Fast Lane
by unicorg221B
Summary: Sequel to "Saved in a Flash". Follows Supernatural Season 2 & Flash Season 1. AU/Canon. Fem!Flash. Hayley and the boys hit the road again and come to terms with a new reality as they face their biggest enemy yet. But will their friendship survive the secrets that they keep from each other, or destroy them along their road to the truth?
1. In My Time of Dying

**Author's Note:**

Hi everyone and welcome back! :)

This is the 2nd part and a sequel to **_Saved in a Flash_**. If you're new and you haven't read it yet, I would highly recommend that you do. Otherwise, you will have a harder time following this story as it jumps right back in where we left off in the last part. (It has only 10 chapters and is way shorter than this one will be ;) )

The story follows Hayley Allen, who was struck by lightning and gained super speed. She joined the Winchesters on the road and together they try and make the world a little safer.

Note that this is just my version of their stories and my attempt to bring a little more girl power into this universe. I love both shows how they are originally written, but this just seemed like a fun experiment to mix them all together. Because what's better than one or two heroes? Damn right, _three_ ;)

PS: This first chapter also uses SPN #1.09 for flashbacks!

Okay, you ready? _Goooooood._

* * *

 _Baby save it, we're wasted_  
 _I know we gotta slow it down_  
 _But when the waves come, you face them_  
 _And you know we can't stop it now_

 _Baby lately the plans we're making_  
 _Are the shape of things that never come_  
 _Hold your horses, the lights up_  
 _Can't feel it coming back around_

 _Listen up, it's picking up_  
 _Put your hands up and do your kicksy and lipsy_  
 _Your times up, we're hanging up_  
 _We're double sixing it, night cause tonight_  
 _We're doing it to death_

 _Doing It To Death_ by **The Kills**

* * *

 **1\. In My Time of Dying (SPN 2.01)**

Sam's head was spinning. He could barely keep his eyes open, slipping in and out of consciousness. _No_ , he thought. He couldn't sleep right now, no matter how tired he was or how much pain he was in. The three Winchesters had just been hit by a truck, and he needed to get them out of there.

He looked over to his father in the passenger's seat, when suddenly the driver's door of the wrecked Impala got ripped open. A man, the truck driver, stood in front of him – his eyes were pitch-black.

But Sam was prepared. He knew it couldn't have been an accident that they got hit by a truck right after they had managed to ditch the yellow eyed demon.

"Back. Or I'll kill you, I swear to God," Sam threatened, Colt in hand and pointed at the demon.

"You won't. You're saving that bullet for someone else," the demon replied confidently.

"You wanna bet?" Sam said, cocking the Colt. Their survival now was more important than Yellow Eyes later.

The demon smiled at him before a black cloud left the truck driver's body and the man collapsed to the ground.

Sam let out a relieved breath and uncocked the gun again. He looked over to his father, who was still passed out in the passenger's seat.

"Dad?" He still asked, hoping for an answer. "Dad!" But there came none.

In a panic, he turned his head around to look at his brother in the backseat. His big brother had always been the answer. But Dean had been badly hurt before they even got into the car and now Sam wasn't even sure his brother was still alive. "Dean?" He called out desperately.

"Dean!"

* * *

He didn't remember much of what had happened when he woke up in a cold white room alone. The air around him smelled clean and sterile. He sat up on the little bed, he had seemingly passed out on. He stared down at his feet. He was barefoot, wearing blue pants and a white t-shirt.

 _Hospital_ , he realized. There had been an accident. He needed to find Sam and his father. Were they okay?

He didn't bother to call a nurse. He walked straight into an abandoned hallway.

"Sam? Dad? Anybody?" He called out. Where were all the people?

He found a stairway leading down to a little waiting room. He walked directly to the little nurse's station at the end of the room, hoping to find some answers there.

"Excuse me. Hi. I, uh, I think I was in a car accident, my Dad and my brother, I just need to find them," Dean explained, but the nurse didn't even bother to look at him.

He snapped his fingers in front of the blonde nurse. "Hello?" But she didn't even look up from her paperwork once.

"Hey!" A familiar voice sounded from behind him.

"Hayley! Thank God!" He said relieved when he saw the brunette storming over to him.

But she rushed past him, leaning over the nurse's desk and for the first time, the nurse looked up.

"My friends have been in a car accident. Can you tell me where they are? Are they okay?" She asked panicked.

"Whoa, hey! I'm right here," Dean threw in and waved at her, but she ignored him.

His stomach started to turn. Hayley had looked through him like he wasn't even there. Like he was just another ghost.

"Miss, calm down," the nurse tried to soothe her. "Are you family?"

Hayley shook her head. "No, but…"

"I'm sorry. I can't give any information out on our patients to non-relatives," the nurse told her dismissively.

"I know, but please just help me out here. My friend even called me to get here, so just pretend I'm a relative," Hayley said with a charming smile, but by the tapping of her foot, Dean could tell she was impatient.

"I'm sorry, Miss. I really can't help you," the nurse said and turned her eyes back to her paperwork.

"Fine. Guess we do it my way then," Hayley mumbled with an eye-roll before lightning swished into the nurse's station.

All the cabinets flew open and papers started to litter the floor as they flew around the little room. The nurse looked frightened as she sat there stiffly in her chair and watched on helplessly as all her hard work was being scattered everywhere. It would take hours to clean it up and file it all again.

The lightning suddenly disappeared down the corridors. Dean leaned over the nurse's desk and glanced at a folder that had suddenly appeared in front of her. It had been opened on the page with the latest admittances and finally, Dean knew where to look.

* * *

He had followed the lightning down the corridors, but he didn't even need to look for the right room number. He found Hayley standing in the door frame. She stood there silently like a statue, frozen.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked her even though he knew she couldn't hear him. He walked past her into the room and stopped.

It was odd seeing his own body, lying there on a hospital bed and tubes sticking out of him everywhere.

He wasn't dead. But he was definitely dying.

* * *

 _ **Flashback, 6 months ago**_

 **Lawrence, Kansas**

"We just gotta chill out, that's all," Dean told his little brother impatiently as they were leaning against the Impala at a local gas station. He hadn't wanted to come here in the first place. His childhood home just carried too many awful memories for him. But now that his brother's nightmares started to become a reality, they needed to keep their heads cool. "You know, if this was any other kind of job, what would we do?" Dean asked him and Sam sighed in response, admitting his defeat.

"We'd try to figure out what we were dealin' with. We'd dig into the history of the house," Sam answered defeated. He had been nagging Dean ever since they had left their old home.

"Exactly. Except this time, we already know what happened," Dean said, nodding.

"Yeah, but how much do we know? I mean, how much do you actually remember?" Sam asked curiously. His family had never talked about it that much when he was growing up. Especially Dean had always kept quiet about that particular night.

"About that night, you mean?" Dean asked, looking at him.

"Yeah," Sam said with a nod.

"Not much. I remember the fire…the heat," he replied thoughtfully. "And then I carried you out the front door."

"You did?" Sam asked surprised.

"Yeah. What, you never knew that?" Dean asked surprised as well. He knew Sam couldn't remember anything, but he had always thought his little brother at least knew that.

"No," Sam replied, shaking his head.

"And, well, you know Dad's story as well as I do. Mom was…was on the ceiling. And whatever put her there was long gone by the time Dad found her," Dean said, changing the focus away from himself.

"And he never had a theory about what did it?" Sam asked.

"If he did, he kept it to himself. God knows we asked him enough times," Dean said with an eye-roll.

"Okay. So, if we're gonna figure out what's going on now, we have to figure out what happened back then. And see if it's the same thing," Sam said.

"Yeah. We'll talk to Dad's friends, neighbors, people who were there at the time," Dean agreed and Sam nodded.

"Does this feel like just another job to you?" Sam asked his older brother after they had just sat there in silence for a while.

"I'll be right back. I gotta go to the bathroom," Dean excused himself and disappeared behind a corner of the little gas station they had parked at. He made sure he hadn't been followed by Sam before he took out his cell phone and dialed a number he knew by heart.

" _This is John Winchester. If this is an emergency, call my son, Dean at 866-907-3235_ ," his father's voicemail sounded through his ears and then there was a beep.

"Dad? I know I've left you messages before. I don't even know if you'll get 'em," he said, clearing his throat a little. He usually hated to call his father about a job. No matter what he did, his father would always find something to complain about. But this job was different and they needed his help. "But I'm with Sam. And we're in Lawrence. And there's something in our old house. I don't know if it's the thing that killed Mom or not, but…," he explained when his voice started to crack. But he would be strong. He wouldn't let this get the better of him. "I don't know what to do," he said, tears forming in his eyes until there were enough of them to start rolling down his cheeks.

"So, whatever you're doin', if you could get here. _Please_. I need your help, Dad," Dean said into the phone sadly before he hung up.

* * *

Hayley swallowed hard when she finally had gathered enough courage to take a step closer. She picked up his patient file and skimmed through it.

"Dammit, Dean," she muttered under her breath as she glanced at his unconscious body. She looked unhappy about whatever she saw.

"What? What is it?" He asked her, still in shock. "Am I gonna be okay?"

She turned around and for a minute, he thought she finally heard him. But instead she put his file down and embraced his little brother, who had just walked into the room.

He was bruised and had several cuts on his face, but he seemed to be alright otherwise. "Sammy! You look good. Considering," Dean said relieved to see his brother breathing.

"Sam! I'm so glad you're okay!" Hayley said thankfully when she finally let go of Sam. Sam just nodded weakly in response. "What the hell happened?"

"Man, tell me you can hear me," Dean said, turning to Sam, but his brother didn't even flinch.

"The demon," Sam answered simply when he glanced over to Dean's body. "How is he? Is he gonna survive?"

"Uh, I don't know. What did his doctor say?" Hayley asked and Dean could tell she had just lied to Sam. She knew it didn't look too rosy for him. She just wanted to protect Sam from the heartache.

"I don't know yet. They just released me," Sam explained a little annoyed at the fact. They had tested him for the last hours, not telling him anything about his father or brother.

"How's Dad? Is he okay?" Dean kept asking, although it was pretty clear by now that no one would ever answer him. "Come on, you're the psychic. Give me some ghost whispering or something!"

"Your father's awake. You can go see him if you like," the doctor said as he entered the room and both Hayley and Sam turned around to look at the man.

"Thank God," Dean sighed relieved.

"Doc, what about my brother?" Sam asked.

"Well, he sustained serious injury: blood loss, contusions to his liver and kidney. But it's the head trauma I'm worried about. There's early signs of cerebral edema," the doctor explained and Hayley swallowed.

"Well, what can we do?" Sam asked hopefully.

"Well, we won't know his full condition until he wakes up. _If_ he wakes up," the doctor said.

"If?" Sam repeated, raising his brows.

"I have to be honest…," the doctor said unhappily.

"Oh, screw you, doc, I'm waking up," Dean shouted at him, but the doctor just kept talking over him.

"…most people with this degree of injury wouldn't have survived this long. He's fighting very hard. But you need to have realistic expectations," the doctor told Sam.

Hayley soothingly placed her hand on his arm as Sam's fists clenched tightly. He was fighting back tears. Fighting hard not to lose hope in an impossible situation.

"Come on, Sam. Go find some hoodoo priest to lay some mojo on me," Dean suggested angrily. He wouldn't just die like this. He couldn't. "Sam?"

But again, there was no answer.

* * *

Dean followed the two to his father's room. John seemed to be okay as well. He was still in a hospital bed like him and his arm was in a sling, but at least he was alive. With his one free hand, he pulled something out of his wallet and handed a little plastic card to Sam.

"Here, give them my insurance," John said.

Sam took the card and a smile crossed his face when he read it. "Elroy McGillicutty?" Sam questioned and John snickered.

"And his two loving sons. So, what else did the doctor say about Dean?" His father asked.

"Nothing. Look, the doctors won't do anything, then we'll have to, that's all. I don't know, I'll find some hoodoo priest and lay some mojo on him," Sam suggested, repeating Dean's earlier thoughts.

"We'll look for someone," John promised and Sam nodded. "But Sam, I don't know if we're gonna find anyone."

"Why not? I found that faith healer before," Sam said.

"All right, that was…that was one in a million," John said.

"So what? Do we just sit here with our thumbs up our ass?" Sam asked upset.

"No, I said we'd look. All right? I'll check under every stone," John replied. "Where's the Colt?" His father asked and Sam threw him a look.

"Your son is dying, and you're worried about the Colt?" Sam asked him angrily.

"We're hunting this demon, and maybe it's hunting us too. That gun may be our only card," John explained, growing more impatient with Sam.

"It's in the trunk. They dragged the car to a yard off of I-83," Sam replied.

"All right. You've gotta clean out that trunk before some junk man sees what's inside," John told him.

"I already called Bobby. He's like an hour out, he's gonna tow the Impala back to his place," Sam said.

"All right. You, you go meet up with Bobby. You get that Colt, and you bring it back to me. And you watch out for hospital security," John reminded him.

"I think I've got it covered," Sam replied bitterly. He turned to leave, but John pulled out a piece of paper, handing it to his son.

"Hey, here. I made a list of things I need – have Bobby pick them up for me," John told him.

"Acacia? Oil of Abramelin? What's this stuff for?" Sam asked, raising his brows suspiciously.

"Protection," John answered simply.

"Hey, Dad? You know, the demon…he said he had plans for me, and children like me. Do you have any idea what he meant by that?" Sam asked.

And for the first time, Dean noticed Hayley throwing his father a worried look.

"No, I don't," John lied and Sam left.

"Well, you sure know something," Dean said, looking thoughtfully at his father.

Hayley peeked out the hallway and closed the door as soon as Sam was out of sight.

"Why won't you just tell him?" Hayley snapped angrily at John, who just rolled his eyes.

"I told you. You don't understand," John said irritated, shaking his head.

"What's not to understand? This is on you! If you had told them the truth from the beginning, maybe they wouldn't even be here!" She yelled at him.

"This isn't on me! If you had kept to your promise of protecting them, they wouldn't have been here in the first place," John argued.

"Please! All you care about is that stupid demon. You don't even care that your son is as good as dead!" She threw at him upset.

"He's not gonna die. I won't let that happen," John said through clenched teeth.

"Well, you better start to think of a plan here, John! Because he's not gonna wake up from his coma alone and soon his organs will start to fail," Hayley said, calmer now, but still with the same force behind her words.

"I will. I promise," John said with a determined nod and she opened the door again, ready to leave. "Hayley, no word to Sam about this," he reprimanded her.

"Sure." She rolled her eyes at him with a sigh and slammed the door shut.

* * *

It had been an hour since Sam left and Hayley was still in his room. She was stretched out on a little couch in the corner, papers scattered on her lap with her laptop right in front of her.

Dean sighed when he saw her. She looked frustrated and he could tell she was working hard on a solution to help him somehow.

"You can't solve this with math, Speedy," he said quietly as he leaned over her shoulder to look at her scribbles of different formulas and equations.

She angrily slammed her laptop shut and threw the papers across the room, hitting the wall. She gripped her head and let out a breath.

"You know science never failed me before…," she said as she loosened her bun and put her glasses away with a sad smile. She looked over to him before she got up and walked to his bed, sitting down on the chair next to it.

"I could really use your help, Dean. Please wake up," she said with tears in her eyes.

"It's okay. I'm still here and I don't plan on going anywhere, besides from getting back into this body," Dean said determinedly and sat down across from her, only his unconscious body between them.

"Without you, there's no one around to tell me when I'm being stupid and God knows I need to hear that from time to time," she said with a small smile on her face and Dean chuckled.

"Yeah, just so you know, you're not that stupid most of the time," he replied as if they were having a real conversation and not just a one-sided one.

"And without you around, there's also no one here to keep your Dad and Sam from jumping each other's throats," she said.

"Yeah, you're damn right about that one," Dean said and shook his head. Another good reason not to die today – they still needed to hunt the demon down, as a family, _together_.

"I really need to tell you something…something I should have told you a long time ago," she said thoughtfully as she rested her head on his bed, looking up at his sleeping body.

"What? What is it? Is it about Sam? What does Dad know?" Dean asked eagerly. He was getting frustrated that he wasn't going to get any straight answers anytime soon.

"I just didn't want you to get angry with me…besides, your Dad would probably kill me if I ever did," she said a little frustrated.

"Yeah, Dad can be a bit of an ass sometimes," Dean said, nodding. "But you know you can tell me anything, Hayley." He wanted to comfort her somehow, even though it seemed impossible to do in the state he was in. But still, he reached out his hand, gently holding it over hers. She suddenly glanced down at her own hand before she retracted herself from his bed and leaned back in her chair. Could she have felt that?

"I don't know what to do here, Dean. I miss you. I think you're the only one who could help me with this," she said, a tear rolling down her cheek.

* * *

 _ **Flashback, 6 months ago**_

 **Central City, Missouri**

It was a family night in the West-Allen household. Joe had insisted on weekly family dinners. Ever since his daughters had grown up, he didn't see them around as much and it gave them all a good chance to catch up – and to make them eat a proper meal at least once a week.

The girls usually cooked together on those nights. Hayley's cooking skills lacked training to say the least, but she was a good baker and always responsible for dessert while Iris always managed the main course.

They had just finished their dinner, something straight out of grandma Esther's cookbook, when suddenly Hayley's phone started ringing.

"Hey, you know the rules, young lady. No phones during dinner," Joe reprimanded her.

"I'm a superhero, I can't just turn that off," she argued with a grin and he threw her a look. "Besides dinner is over anyways."

" _Fine_. Make it quick," Joe said and Iris giggled.

Hayley laughed and looked at her phone. An unknown number was calling her and she picked up. "Hello? This is Hayley Allen."

" _This is John Winchester. I need your help_."

* * *

 **Sioux Falls, South Dakota**

"Oh man, Dean is gonna be pissed," Sam said as he looked at the Impala – or what was still left of it in Bobby's junkyard. He hadn't remembered it being _that_ badly, but maybe that had been just wishful thinking.

"Look, Sam. This…this just ain't worth a tow. I say we empty the trunk, sell the rest for scrap," Bobby suggested.

"No. Dean would kill me if we did that. When he gets better, he's gonna want to fix this," Sam said and he was sure of it. His brother would be okay again. They would save him.

"There's nothing to fix. The frame's a pretzel, and the engine's ruined. There's barely any parts worth salvaging," Bobby said, throwing his hands in the air, not quite getting the boys' nostalgia that surrounded this car.

"Listen to me, Bobby. If there's only one working part, that's enough. We're not just going to give up on…," Sam said before his voice broke off.

"Okay. You got it," Bobby said quietly with a nod. He'd do anything for those boys.

"Here, uh, Dad asked for you to get this stuff for him," Sam said, handing Bobby John's list.

"What's John want with this?" Bobby asked, frowning as he looked at the list.

"Protection from the demon?" Sam said questioningly, repeating his father's answer. Bobby threw him a look. "What?"

"Oh, nothing, it's just, uh," Bobby stammered, not sure if he was supposed to say anything.

"Bobby? What's going on?"

* * *

Hayley had fallen dead asleep on the couch, when John snuck into Dean's room and sat down next to his son's bed, watching him closely.

"Come on, Dad. You've gotta help me. I've gotta get better, I've gotta get back in there," Dean said to his father, standing right next to him. "I mean, you haven't called a soul for help. You haven't even tried. Aren't you going to do anything? Aren't you even going to say anything?"

"I've done everything you have ever asked me. _Everything_ ," Dean said, getting angrier. "I have given everything I've ever had! And you're just going to sit there and you're going to watch me die? I mean, what the hell kind of father are you?" He yelled at his father. But John just kept sitting there, not moving an inch.

Suddenly Dean heard a noise coming from outside. "What is that?" He asked himself as he walked out into the hallway.

A spirit rushed past him, scaring him enough to jump back a little. "I take it you didn't see that," he mumbled, turning back to John, who still sat next to his hospital bed.

He followed the spirit down the corridors until he found a young woman on the floor. She seemed to be chocking on something, calling out for help.

"Hey! I need some help in here!" He shouted helplessly, looking around for someone who could hear him.

"I can't…breathe!" The woman panted before she stopped breathing all together.

* * *

After a few hours, Sam had finally made it back to the hospital. He entered Dean's room, sighing as he looked at his older brother, still unconscious.

"Sammy! Tell me you can friggin' hear me, man, there's something in the hospital. Now, you've got to bring me back and we've got to hunt this thing. Sam!" Dean said determinedly.

But Sam's eyes glanced over to Hayley asleep on the couch and he walked over to her, covering her with a blanket. She probably hadn't slept much in the last couple of days and he knew she needed all the energy she could get if they wanted to save Dean.

She yawned and stretched as she opened her blue eyes and looked at him sleepily. "Hey, you're back," she said, a smile crossing her face.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you," Sam apologized.

"That's okay. I've gotten enough sleep to last another couple of days now," she said with a laugh and he shook his head at her, smiling before it faded again.

"What's wrong?" She asked and he just shrugged his shoulders.

"C'mon, I need to give this stuff to Dad," he replied simply, gesturing at the duffel bag in his hands.

* * *

She followed Sam into John's room. He didn't greet his father. In fact, he didn't even look at him, and both Hayley and Dean knew by now that something was bothering him.

"You're quiet," John noted and Sam turned around with an angry expression on his face. He harshly threw the duffel bag onto his father's bed.

"Did you think I wouldn't find out?" Sam asked him irritated and John glanced over to Hayley. She shrugged her shoulders, indicating that she didn't know what had gotten into Sam. Or more likely that she didn't tell him their secret as Dean gathered from their little exchange.

"What are you talking about?" John asked innocently.

"That stuff from Bobby…you don't use it to ward off a demon, you use it to summon one. You're planning on bringing the demon here, aren't you? Having some stupid macho showdown!" Sam yelled at his father.

"I have a plan, Sam," John replied calmly.

"That's exactly my point! Dean is dying, and you have a plan! You know what, you care more about killing this demon than you do saving your own son!" Sam threw at him.

"That's what I said," Hayley muttered and John threw her a look before turning his attention back to his youngest son.

"No, no, no, guys, don't do this!" Dean chimed in. He was just a ghost, but he would try and keep his family together as long as he could.

"Do not tell me how I feel! I am doing this for Dean," John argued and Sam rolled his eyes at him.

"How? How is revenge going to help him? You're not thinking about anybody but yourself, it's the same selfish obsession!" Sam yelled.

"Come on guys, don't do this!" Dean said, standing between them and watching their fight unfold helplessly.

"You know, it's funny, I thought it was your obsession too! This demon killed your mother, killed your girlfriend. You begged me to be part of this hunt. Now if you'd killed that damn thing when you had the chance, none of this would have happened," John yelled back at his son.

"It was possessing you, Dad. I would have killed you too," Sam argued.

"Hayley, c'mon. Do something! Please!" Dean begged her.

"Yeah, and your brother would be awake right now," John snapped angrily.

"Shut up, both of you!" Dean said.

"Guys, stop. You're not helping," Hayley threw in, but they ignored her.

"Go to hell," Sam told his father.

"I should have never taken you along in the first place. I knew it was a mistake, I knew I was wrong…," John rambled on.

"I said shut up!" Dean shouted angrily at the top of his lungs, smacking a glass of water off of John's table and it shattered into a million pieces on the floor.

The two suddenly stopped fighting, looking at each other confused before they looked over to Hayley, who was standing far away from that table.

"I swear that wasn't me," she said, a shocked expression on her face.

"Dude, I full-on Swayze'd that mother," Dean said proudly with a grin. But then he could suddenly feel a pain inside of him that made him crumble and he started to flicker.

A couple of nurses and doctors ran by their room down the hallway to Dean's room and John looked worriedly outside. "Something's going on out there," he said, gesturing outside and giving them an order to follow the commotion.

* * *

It felt like forever until they had reached Dean's room. He was surrounded by nurses, doctors and beeping machines. The monitor next to his bed was flatlining and the hospital staff around him was trying frantically to reanimate him.

"All clear," the doctor gave the order before he put the defibrillator on Dean's chest.

"No," Sam uttered with tears in his eyes as he stood frozen in the doorframe. Hayley came to his side, holding his hand and squeezing it tightly.

* * *

 _ **Flashback, 6 months ago**_

 **Central City, Missouri**

She hung up and raced over to her bag, gathering a few of her most important things – her suit and her laptop.

"What is it?" Joe asked her worriedly.

"That was John Winchester. He wants me to go to Kansas," she replied simply.

"What? Why?" Iris asked, raising her brows.

"I don't know. Something about his kids. He said he's gonna tell me there," Hayley said.

"He has children?" Joe asked surprised. He had only met John Winchester once, but he hadn't seemed like the family type.

"Well, apparently he found some lucky lady," Hayley joked. "Look, I'm sure it's nothing. But I couldn't say no after he helped us. I'll just get this over with and be back by tomorrow night, alright? I'm sure it won't take forever," she said with a smile and kissed her adoptive father's cheek.

"No, dangerous blog stuff while I'm gone," she told Iris with a warning look and her sister rolled her eyes back with a sigh.

"Fine," Iris agreed unenthusiastically as the sisters hugged goodbye.

* * *

"Still no pulse," one of the nurses told the doctor.

"Okay, let's go again, 360," the doc said.

"Charging," the nurse said.

"C'mon Dean…," Hayley mumbled as she watched him powerlessly. This was a situation were even she, with all her superpowers, couldn't do anything about it.

Dean stood idly behind Sam and Hayley, watching himself waste away when he saw the spirit from before, hovering over his body.

"You get the hell away from me," he threatened the figure, running over to his bed.

"I said get back!" He yelled when he stood face to face with it.

He decided to grab the spirit, trying to get it off of him. He could feel it in his hands for a moment before it threw him back and rushed out of the room.

The monitors stopped flatlining and resumed to their normal beeping.

"We have a pulse. We're back into sinus rhythm," the nurse confirmed and the two of them sighed relieved. They had won more time to save him.

Dean followed the spirit into the hallway, but it had vanished again and he turned back to his little brother, who seemed still in shock.

"Don't worry, Sammy. I'm not going anywhere. I'm getting that thing before it gets me. It's some kind of spirit, but I could grab it. And if I can grab it, I can kill it," he told his brother resolutely.

She looked over to Sam, who stared confused into nothingness. He had felt something. She knew because she had felt it too.

* * *

He continued to wander the hallways aimlessly, feeling even more like a ghost. But in reality, he was looking for his next monster to hunt. A coma wouldn't keep him from doing his job.

"Can't you see me? Why won't you look at me?" He heard a voice in the distance.

"Now what?" He mumbled frustrated and followed the girl's screams.

He found her on the staircase, yelling at people walking by. "Somebody talk to me! Say something, please!"

"Can you see me?" He asked her and she turned around, a glimpse of relief in her eyes.

"Yeah," she replied, a smile forming on her face.

"All right, just, uh, calm down. What's your name?" He asked as he took a few steps closer to her. She was a young woman with dark brown chin-length hair and she was wearing the typical hospital patient outfit.

"Tessa," she said.

"Okay, good, Tessa, I'm Dean," he introduced himself. He tried to be as charming as possible, because he knew the next conversation they'd be having, wouldn't be pleasant.

"What's happening to me? Am...am I dead?" She asked shocked, her eyes widening.

"That sort of depends," Dean replied.

* * *

They had found her room pretty quickly. Just like him, she was lying there, on a hospital bed with tubes and machines surrounding her body. An older woman sat by her bed, holding her hand.

"I don't understand. I just came in for an appendectomy," Tessa said, looking at him.

"Well, I hate to bear bad news, but I think there were some complications," Dean replied.

"It's just a dream, that's all. It's just a very weird, unbelievably vivid dream," she said, walking away from the room and down the hallway.

"Tessa. It's not a dream," he said, following her.

"Then what else could it be?" She stopped and spun around to look at him again.

"You ever heard of an out of body experience?" Dean asked her.

"What are you, some new agey guy?" She raised her brows at him.

"You see me messing with crystals or listening to Yanni?" He said and she shook her head slowly. "It's actually a very old idea. Got a lot of different names: Bilocation, crisis apparition, fetches…I think it's happening to us. And if it is, it means that we're spirits of people close to death," he explained.

"So we're going to die?" She asked terrified.

"No," he said unwaveringly. "Not if we hold on. Our bodies can get better, we can snap right back in there and wake up."

He was sure of it.

* * *

 _ **Flashback, 6 months ago**_

 **Lawrence, Kansas**

The boys had reached the only lead they had found so far. They had talked to their father's old friends and neighbors, but a psychic named Missouri Moseley seemed to be the only person, who really knew what happened in their childhood home all these years ago. Their father had sought her out after their mother died, looking to find some answers, and now the brothers were doing the same thing.

They sat on a little couch, waiting patiently for her to get rid of her current customer as she escorted him out of her tiny house.

"All right, there. Don't you worry 'bout a thing. Your wife is crazy about you," she assured the man, who thanked her before she closed the door on him. "Whew. Poor bastard. His woman is cold-bangin' the gardener," Missouri said as she turned to the two boys on her couch in the little foyer.

"Why didn't you tell him?" Dean asked the slightly older woman. She was short and fell a little on the heavier side of the weight spectrum with short dark curls bouncing on her head.

"People don't come here for the truth. They come for good news," Missouri replied and the boys stared at her. "Well? Sam and Dean, come on already, I ain't got all day," she said, leaving for the living room and the brothers shared a confused look before they got up and followed her inside.

"Well, lemme look at ya," she said with a laugh and spun around to look at them. "Oh, you boys grew up handsome. And you were one goofy-lookin' kid, too," Missouri said, pointing at Dean. He glared at her and his little brother smirked at him.

"Sam. Oh, honey…I'm sorry about your girlfriend," Missouri said, grabbing Sam's hand softly. The brothers looked shocked at her, although they weren't sure what exactly they had expected when they had walked into the psychic's house. "And your father – he's missin'?" She looked worriedly up at them.

"How'd you know all that?" Sam asked surprised.

"Well, you were just thinkin' it just now," Missouri replied simply and Sam raised his eyebrows a little baffled.

"Well, where is he? Is he okay?" Dean questioned her like she was some kind of magical oracle.

"I don't know," she said and Dean frowned at her.

" _Don't know_? Well, you're supposed to be a psychic, right?" He asked doubtingly.

"Boy, you see me sawin' some bony tramp in half? You think I'm a magician? I may be able to read thoughts and sense energies in a room, but I can't just pull facts out of thin air. Sit, please," she said and gestured them to the little couch in the living room and Sam smirked at his older brother. "Boy, you put your foot on my coffee table, I'm 'a whack you with a spoon!" She snapped at Dean again as he was just about to make himself comfortable on the couch.

"I didn't do anything," Dean said defensively.

"But you were thinkin' about it," Missouri said matter-of-factly. Dean furrowed his brows at her and Sam chuckled, shaking his head.

"Okay. So, our Dad – when did you first meet him?" Sam asked as she sat down across from them.

"He came for a reading. A few days after the fire. I just told him what was really out there in the dark. I guess you could say…I drew back the curtains for him," she said.

"What about the fire? Do you know about what killed our Mom?" Dean asked her impatiently.

"A little. Your daddy took me to your house. He was hopin' I could sense the echoes, the fingerprints of this thing," she explained.

"And could you?" Sam asked, but she shook her head at him reluctantly. "What was it?"

"I don't know. Oh, but it was evil," she said softly, still shuddering at the thought of it.

"So…you think somethin' is back in that house?" Missouri asked, looking at Sam.

"Definitely," he assured her.

"I don't understand," she said, shaking her head.

"What?" Sam's interest peaked.

"I haven't been back inside, but I've been keepin' an eye on the place, and it's been quiet. No sudden deaths, no freak accidents. Why is it actin' up now?" Missouri asked, more herself than the boys, thinking about it.

"I don't know. But Dad going missing and Jessica dying and now this house all happening at once – it just feels like something's starting," Sam replied.

"That's a comforting thought," Dean muttered and let himself fall back into the couch.

She had agreed to meet up with the boys later and check out the house after she had gathered a few needed things. When she had closed the front door behind them, she walked back into the living room, the small brunette girl waiting for her at the door frame of her kitchen.

"So…that's them? John Winchester's kids?" Hayley asked, raising a brow. They hadn't really been what she had expected at all.

"Yes, honey," Missouri replied.

"Huh, charming…," Hayley said sarcastically, thinking that the apples didn't fall far from the tree in this family.

"They're a little rough around the edges, yes," she said with a chuckle. "But they're good boys," Missouri said softly.

"And their mom…she died in a fire?" Hayley asked, looking at her.

"Yes. Poor kids. Carry 'round as much emotional baggage as you," Missouri said.

"Thank you…?" Hayley raised a brow at her. "And whatever killed her, you believe them? You think it's back?"

"Like I told them. I really don't know. But I do know they could use your help," Missouri said gently.

"How can I help them? I know squat about monsters. Where's John? Why doesn't he help them?" Hayley questioned her.

"Their father is on a dangerous mission," she replied simply.

"So he'd rather have his sons think he's missing? Not sure if I wanna be a part of that," she scoffed and Missouri shook her head at her.

"You know, you and those boys have a lot more in common than you think, girl," Missouri said with a smile.

"Yeah, sorry, lady. I really can't see it," Hayley said and the psychic chuckled.

"Don't worry. You will."

* * *

"I gotta say, I'm impressed," Dean said as he strolled down the hospital corridors with his new found half-dead friend.

"With what?" Tessa asked surprised.

"With you. Most people in your spot would be jello right now, but uh, you're taking this pretty well. Maybe a little better than me," he said thoughtfully.

"Don't get me wrong. I was pretty freaked at first. But now, I don't know. Maybe I'm dealing," she said with a shrug.

"So you're okay with dying?" Dean asked her doubtfully.

"No, of course not. I just think, whatever's gonna happen is gonna happen. It's out of my control, it's fate," she replied.

"Huh. Well, that's crap. You always have a choice. You can either roll over and die or you can keep fighting, no matter what," Dean told her stubbornly before he was interrupted by the hospital's speakers, announcing a _code blue_ in room 237. Whatever that was, it didn't sound good and Dean spun around to go looking for the room.

"Where are you going?" Tessa asked him.

"Just wait here," he ordered her before he jogged down the hallway.

He found the room in question quickly. A little girl in a hospital bed was being resuscitated by a bunch of doctors, the dark spirit from before hovering over her body this time. A hand reached down to touch her face and Dean immediately raced over to her bed, trying to stop it.

"Get away from her!" He yelled and lunged at the spirit. But he was too late. The spirit vanished into thin air and the nurse stopped the reanimation.

"All right, let's call it," a male doctor announced.

"Time of death, 5:11 pm," another doctor said.

"At least she's not suffering anymore," the nurse said quietly, looking sadly at the girl, just as Dean began to realize something.

* * *

It was late at night when Hayley came back to his room again. She had been away for a while and Dean figured the speedster had needed some space to think. And he was right.

"So you know when I said science never failed me before?" She asked into the empty room as she walked over to his bed.

"Yeah?" Dean said as he stood behind her, waiting where she was going with this.

"Well, technically it didn't," she said. "Einstein's laws say that all energy is constant. It can only change from one form to another, which logically would mean that even when we die, that energy has to go somewhere. I mean otherwise our EMF meters would be useless…," she babbled and he rolled his eyes.

"Get to the point, Speedy," he urged her a little impatient.

"Okay, well, from a former coma patient to a current one…I think you can hear me," she said and her eyes wandered around the room, waiting for a sign that she ways right. "Anyways, I think I found a way to hear you too," she said with a grin as she pulled out an Ouija board.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me," Dean said, shaking his head.

"Alright, I know this isn't technically the scientific breakthrough you have hoped for, but it has proven itself useful in various movies," she argued her theory.

She sat down on the floor in front of his bed, preparing the board and Dean sat down across from her with a sigh.

"God, I feel like I'm at a slumber party," Dean mumbled as he placed his hands over hers on the pointer of the board. "Don't be disappointed if it doesn't work."

"Okay, so if you're here, dude, just make yourself known. Dean…?" She called out carefully.

He had to concentrate hard, but eventually he managed to move the pointer to a _yes_ on the board.

"I'll be damned," Dean muttered and looked stunned at her. Her blue eyes widened and she let go of the pointer, jumping back a little.

"Holy shit!" She mumbled, staring at the board with a freaked out expression before she turned her head to the door. "Sam!" She called out.

It didn't take long and his little brother stormed into the room. He probably had expected to see him die again and was more than baffled when he looked at their friend sitting on the floor with a talking board.

"Geez, Hayley. You scared me. What the hell are you doing?" He asked her as he took a few steps closer to look at the Ouija board.

"I'm trying to talk to Dean," she stated and he raised his brows at her. "Don't look at me like that. It's working," she announced enthusiastically.

"What? You talked to him?" Sam asked stunned.

"Well, she tried to, but then little scaredy-cat over there got freaked out," Dean said with a chuckle.

"For a brief moment, yeah. I asked if he was here and the pointer slid to _yes_ , so…"

"How do you know it's even him and not some poltergeist?" Sam asked doubtfully.

"Well, you go ahead and try it. You're the psychic, Sam. You should be able to sense your own brother," Hayley replied and Sam complied with a frown and sat down next to her.

"Dean? Are you there?" Sam asked, having his hand on the pointer and Dean slid it to _yes_ again. Sam gasped before he laughed relieved.

"It's good to hear from you, man. It hasn't been the same without you, Dean," Sam said, tears forming in his eyes. He was so happy to hear from his older brother again.

"Damn straight," Dean agreed and started to slide the pointer across the board. He needed to tell them what was going on.

"Dean, what? H? U?" Sam repeated the letters Dean was pointing at. "Hunt? Hunting? What, are you hunting?" Sam asked surprised and the slider moved to _yes_ again.

"It's in the hospital, what you're hunting?" Sam asked.

"Do you know what it is?" Hayley asked.

"One question at a time, guys," Dean said and the two shared a look before Sam asked again.

"What is it?"

"I don't think it's killing people. I think it's taking them. You know, when their time's just up," Dean explained as he spelled out the name of the monster.

"A reaper," they replied simultaneously and looked at each other.

"A reaper, like skeleton with a cloak and a scythe? That guy?" Hayley asked perplexed.

"More or less. There's a lot of lore on them, but we never encountered one before," Sam replied, looking at her.

"That you know of," Hayley added and Sam gave her a worried look.

"Dean, is it after you?" Sam asked, turning his attention back to the board and the pointer slid to _yes_. The two shared another concerned look. "If it's here naturally, there's no way to stop it," Sam explained to both of them.

"Yeah, you can't kill death," Dean agreed, knowing what kind of situation he was facing.

"Man, you're, uhm," Sam said, trying to find the words.

"I'm screwed, Sam," Dean replied, finding them for him.

"No. No, no, no, uhm, there's gotta be a way," Sam said as he got up and started to pace the room frantically. "There's gotta be a way. Dad'll know what to do," Sam announced and left the room.

"Looks like it's just us again, huh?" She said and placed her hands on the pointer. "Kinda weird to think that I might have been like that for nine months," she said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, would explain why you're so crazy though," Dean replied and chuckled before he decided to move the pointer again. He just needed to know and he didn't know how much time he still had left.

" _Tell me_ ," she repeated what he had spelled out and sighed. "So I guess you heard me and your Dad earlier. And what I told you after." He answered with another _yes._ "Are you…mad at me?" She asked cautiously.

He slid the pointer to _no_ and she sighed relieved. "I told you. I couldn't be mad at you. Besides, this is hardly your fault from what I've gathered. You're just doing the best you can to look out for me and Sam," Dean replied thoughtfully and she really had. He couldn't remember a time when she hadn't tried to save them and even when their father joined them on the hunt, she still seemed more loyal to him and Sam than to their father.

"I don't know why you do what you do and help us, but I'm glad you are," Dean said.

"You know, your Dad loves you two, especially you. He cares about you a lot, Dean," she said suddenly.

"Well, he's got a funny way of showing it," he huffed.

"I know you don't believe it, but it's true," she said, a smile playing on her face. "I'll tell you, I promise. But I really think we should have this conversation in person."

* * *

 _ **Flashback, 6 months ago**_

 **Lawrence, Kansas**

The boys and Missouri had managed to get rid of the family living inside their haunted childhood home. Hayley waited outside as the psychic had instructed her to, ready to jump at any apparent danger.

After an hour, the three had finished making the house ghost-free and the brothers returned to their motel while the little family, a single mother and two small children, returned to their new home.

But the brothers decided to check on them one last time before leaving and Hayley decided to join them unnoticeably. She would at least do a furrow job before going back home again. She owed John Winchester that much.

To her surprise, the brothers had been right and soon after midnight they heard terrified screams coming from the upstairs bedroom. They rushed out of the Impala and into the house.

Hayley had already raced inside. Her first instinct was to get the kids out of there, but just as she had reached the girl's bedroom, Sam came in as well, carrying the little boy in his arms, and in a panic she raced into the closet and hid there.

He handed the little boy over to his sister. "All right, Sari, take your brother outside as fast as you can, and don't look back," Sam ordered them and the kids ran outside as fast as they could. Sam tried to follow them, but an invisible force grabbed him and threw him back into the bedroom, crashing him into a table.

She wanted to jump out and help him, but she couldn't. Something was holding her there and she tried to struggle against it. However, whatever it was, it was a lot stronger than her.

"Sari, where's Sam?" Dean asked worriedly, kneeling down to her eye-level, as he watched the kids running out of that house like he had twenty-two years ago.

"He's inside. Something's got him and the girl in the lightning," the little girl replied confused and Dean glanced back at the front door, a hint of panic in his eyes, and then the door slammed shut.

In a hurry, he ran to the Impala and grabbed an ax and a rifle from the trunk. He used the ax to break open the front door until there was a big enough hole for him to crawl through.

He looked feverishly through the house until he found his brother in the old nursery and they seemed to be back where it all began.

His brother was pinned to the wall, unable to move and a figure in fire stood in the middle of the room, slowly coming at him. Dean raised the rifle at it, ready to shoot.

"No, don't! Don't!" Sam yelled, stopping him and Dean spun around confused.

"What, why?!" He asked, looking at his little brother.

"Because I know who it is. I can see her now," Sam said, a small smile forming on his face and Dean turned back to look at the figure.

The fire around her vanished and now he could see her too. He lowered his gun slowly, staring at her in shock. "Mom?" He asked softly and she smiled at him as she took a few steps closer.

Hayley managed to move her head enough to be able to see through the tiny vents in the wooden closet door. _How was this even possible_ , she asked herself as she stared at the three of them in awe. She'd give anything to see her mother again.

"Dean," Mary's voice echoed softly through the room and tears came to his eyes.

She slowly walked over to Sam, looking at him closely, but Dean's eyes never left her. "Sam," she said and her youngest son smiled weakly at her, tears rolling down his cheek. She smiled back at him before her smile faded from her face. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Sam asked, but she just looked at him sadly before she walked away from her children again and looked up at the ceiling.

"You, get out of my house. And let go of them," she threatened the poltergeist and Hayley wondered if she knew she was there too, trying to protect her sons. She burst into flames again, the fire reaching up to the ceiling before it disappeared all together.

Hayley could feel the force letting go of her and Sam seemed to be free to move again as well. He walked over to his older brother, a stunned expression on both their faces.

"Now it's over," Sam said.

* * *

Sam returned soon after. He didn't bring their father along, but he did bring his journal and sat down at the edge of his brother's bed.

"Hey. So Dad wasn't in his room," Sam stated.

"Where is he?" Dean asked, furrowing his brows.

"But I got Dad's journal, so who knows? Maybe there's something here," Sam said hopefully. He flipped open the journal, skimming through it and Dean walked up behind him, so he could read as well.

"Thanks for not giving up on me, Sammy," he told his little brother. He looked over his shoulder when Sam found a page titled _Reapers_.

"Son of a bitch," Dean muttered and abruptly left the room and Sam behind to find a known face.

* * *

He found her sitting on a bed in an empty patient's room. Tessa wasn't in her hospital attire anymore, instead she wore a long black dress.

"Hi, Dean," she said, looking up at him.

"You know, you read the most interesting things. For example, did you know that reapers can alter human perception? I sure didn't. Basically they can make themselves appear however they want. Like, say, uh, a pretty girl. You are much prettier than the last reaper I met," Dean said.

"I was wondering when you would figure it out," she said with a smile.

"I should have known. That whole 'accepting fate' crap of yours is far too laid back for a dead chick. But the mother, and the body, I'm still trying to figure that one out," Dean said, remembering what he had showed her.

"It's my sandbox, I can make you see whatever I want," she replied softly.

"What, is this like a turn-on for you? What, toying with me?" He asked her irritated. He sure as hell didn't think this was remotely funny.

"You didn't give me much choice. You saw my true form and you flipped out. Kinda hurts a girl's feelings. This was the only way I could get you to talk to me," the reaper replied.

"Okay, fine. We're talking. What the hell do you want to talk about?" He asked, still angry.

"How death is nothing to fear," she said gently as she got up from the bed. She walked over to him and touched his cheek and he backed away a little. "It's your time to go, Dean. And you're living on borrowed time already," she breathed quietly.

* * *

Hayley stopped in her tracks. She overheard Sam talking in Dean's room and leaned against the cool wall of the hospital's corridor.

"Dean, are you here? I couldn't find anything in the book. I don't know how to help you. But I'll keep trying, all right? As long as you keep fighting. I mean, come on you can't…you can't leave me here alone with Dad. We'll kill each other, you know that," Sam said, a laugh escaping his mouth. "Dean, you gotta hold on. You can't go, man, not now. We were just starting to be brothers again. Can you hear me?" Sam asked into the empty room, but the reply he hoped for didn't come from his brother.

"Hey, you okay?" Hayley asked as she stood by the door, watching him, a warm smile on her face.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm alright," Sam replied, wiping the tears from his eyes a little embarrassed. "I just miss him, you know."

"Yeah." Hayley nodded and sat down next to him, resting her head against his shoulder and taking his hand. "We'll get him back, Sam. Don't worry."

"How? There's nothing in Dad's journal. We would need a miracle," Sam said frustrated.

"Well, one thing I've learned in my life is that nothing's impossible," she said softly and looked up at him and Sam nodded, tears forming in his eyes again. He wouldn't lose hope. Not yet anyways.

* * *

"Look, I'm sure you've heard this before, but…you've gotta make an exception, you've gotta cut me a break," Dean said as he spun around to face the reaper again. He had thought about it long and hard as he had been standing by the window, staring out into the dark night sky.

"Stage three: bargaining," the reaper replied simply.

"I'm serious. My family's in danger. See, we're kind of in the middle of this, uhm, war, and they need me," he explained.

"The fight's over," the reaper replied.

"No, it isn't," he argued defensively.

"It is for you, Dean. You're not the first soldier I've plucked from the field. They all feel the same. They can't leave. Victory hangs in the balance. But they're wrong. The battle goes on without them," she told him.

"My brother. He could die without me," Dean said pleadingly.

"Maybe he will, maybe he won't. Nothing you can do about it. It's an honorable death. A warrior's death," she tried to whitewash the situation.

"I think I'll pass on the seventy-two virgins, thanks. I'm not that into prude chicks anyway," he joked, frowning at her.

"That's funny. You're very cute," she said with a smile.

"There's no such thing as an honorable death. My corpse is going to rot in the ground and my family is going to die! No. I'm not going with you, I don't care what you do," Dean stated stubbornly.

"Well, like you said. There's always a choice. I can't make you come with me. But you're not getting back in your body. And that's just facts. So yes, you can stay. You'll stay here for years. Disembodied, scared, and over the decades it'll probably drive you mad. Maybe you'll even get violent," she said quietly as she paced the space around him.

"What are you saying?" He asked, looking at her.

"Dean. How do you think angry spirits are born? They can't let go and they can't move on. And you're about to become one. The same thing you hunt," she replied.

He sat down on the bed in the room, digesting what the reaper had just told him. He never had expected to become something he hunted. But if the reaper was right and wasn't lying to him, he soon would be a real spirit, haunting this crappy hospital for all of eternity.

She sat down beside him, stroking his hair caringly. "It's time to put the pain behind you," she whispered.

"And go where?" He asked, tears in his eyes. Maybe he was scared of death. Or maybe he was just scared of leaving everybody he loved behind.

"Sorry. I can't give away the big punch line. Moment of truth. No changing your mind later. So what's it going to be?" She asked him and he looked up at her. He could end all of his suffering in a heartbeat. It would be so easy. He just needed to go with her.

The lights in the room started to flicker and he looked around the room confused. He got up from the bed, taking a few steps back from her.

"What are you doing that for?" He asked her, furrowing his brows.

"I'm not doing it," she answered, a sudden panic appearing in her face. They heard a buzzing coming from the vent and turned to look at it as black smoke rushed out of it.

"What the hell?" Dean said as he watched the smoke attack the reaper.

"You can't do this! Get away!" She screamed as the black cloud poured inside her.

"What's happening?!" Dean asked rattled.

The smoke disappeared inside of her and she turned her head at him, flashing him with yellow eyes.

"Today's your lucky day, kid," the reaper's body said and before he could move an inch, the demon placed a hand on his forehead. He started to tremble, not being able to control himself before it all went black.

* * *

Sam had been watching over his brother for hours now without any sign of him getting any better. Hayley had fallen asleep on his shoulder a while ago. He sighed, looking at his brother hooked up with a bunch of tubes and machines.

All of a sudden, he noticed a small movement in the bed before Dean opened his eyes and gasped in shock, almost chocking on the tube in his mouth.

"Dean?" Sam asked, not believing his eyes. He shook Hayley awake and the speedster rattled awake, staring in shock at the freshly awoken coma patient. "Help! I need help!" Sam yelled into the hallway.

* * *

"I can't explain it. The edema's vanished. The internal contusions are healed. Your vitals are good. You have some kind of angel watching over you," the doctor said as he looked over Dean's file. The doctors had insisted on running tests on him for the rest of the night, they had been so mesmerized by his miracle awakening.

"Thanks, doc," Dean said and the doctor left them alone again. Dean let out a relieved sigh. He couldn't wait to get out of this bed. "So you said a Reaper was after me?" Dean asked, looking at Sam and Hayley next to his bed.

"Yeah," Sam replied with a nod.

"How'd I ditch it?" Dean asked and looked at two baffled faces.

"You got me, Dean," Sam replied with a shrug.

"So, you really don't remember anything?" Hayley asked.

"No, not really. Sorry, I can't give you any scientific proof about the afterlife, Speedy," he said with a chuckle.

"Too bad," she replied, sounding a little disappointed. "Would have love that Nobel," she joked and the boys laughed. "Anyways, I need to get some food in me. I haven't eaten anything in days," she said as she got up from her chair and walked over to the door.

"Having a slice of pizza at the pizza place down the street? Heard their pizza is the best in this state," Dean said knowingly, looking up at her with a charming smile.

"Fine, I'll get you one, too. Except it's not gonna be _one_ slice for me, but more like 60," she replied with a smile.

"Geez, you know I love a woman who can eat, but you take the cake, Speedy. You're playing on a whole other level," Dean said jokingly.

"Thought you already knew that, Winchester," she said with a wide grin. "I'll be back in a flash," Hayley said and winked at the boys before she vanished out the door.

The brothers sniggered and Dean shook his head at their fast friend. He could watch her run off a million times more, and still, he wasn't sure if he would believe it even then.

"So, how are you really feeling, Dean?" Sam asked him as soon as Hayley had left.

"Fine. Except this pit in my stomach. Sam, something's wrong," Dean said worriedly, but before Sam could answer, there was a knock on the door and the brothers turned to look at their father.

"How you feeling, dude?" John asked Dean, a happy smile on his face.

"Fine, I guess. I'm alive," Dean replied dryly. Something just didn't feel right about his sudden awakening.

"That's what matters," their father replied.

"Where were you last night?" Sam snapped angrily at him.

"I had some things to take care of," John replied mysteriously.

"Well, that's specific," Sam retorted.

"Come on, Sam," Dean tried to calm his little brother. They had just been reunited and here he was, back again and starting where he had left off – in the middle between these two.

"Did you go after the demon?" Sam asked angrily, raising a brow.

"No," John stated.

"You know, why don't I believe you right now?" Sam snapped back, throwing his hands in the air upset.

"Can we not fight?" John suddenly asked, tears in his eyes and his voice pleading. "You know, half the time we're fighting, I don't know what we're fighting about. We're just butting heads. Sammy, I, I've made some mistakes. But I've always done the best I could. I just don't want to fight anymore, okay?" Sam was quiet for a moment and his two sons stared at him stunned. They weren't used to the softer side of their father.

"Dad, are you all right?" Sam asked, looking at his father.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm just a little tired," he replied. "Hey, son, would you, uh, would you mind getting me a cup of caffeine?"

"Yeah. Yeah, sure," Sam said with a nod and got up from the chair, leaving for the door.

John looked after his youngest son, a sad expression on his face before he turned his attention back to his oldest one.

"What is it?" Dean asked, confused over his father's unlikely behavior.

"You know, when you were a kid, I'd come home from a hunt, and after what I'd seen, I'd be…I'd be wrecked. And you, you'd come up to me and you, you'd put your hand on my shoulder and you'd look me in the eye and you'd…you'd say 'it's okay, Dad'," his father said, blinking away the tears that were forming in his eyes. "Dean, I'm sorry."

"For what?" Dean asked, surprised at his father's outburst of emotions. He surely had never expected anything like it from this tall, strong man standing before him.

"You shouldn't have had to say that to me, I should have been saying that to you. You know, I put, I put too much on your shoulders, I made you grow up too fast. You took care of Sammy, you took care of me. You did that, and you didn't complain, not once. I just want you to know that I am so proud of you," John said, uttering words he should have said a long time ago.

"This really you talking?" Dean asked suspiciously, raising a brow.

"Yeah. Yeah, it's really me." He nodded with a smile.

"Why are you saying this stuff?" Dean asked, a sudden shudder washing over him.

His father took a few steps closer to his bed, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder and leaning in closely to him.

"I want you to watch out for Sammy, okay?" John said quietly and Dean nodded.

"Yeah, Dad, you know I will. You're scaring me," Dean replied, his eyes wide. He didn't understand what was going on.

"Don't be scared, Dean," John said and leaned in closer to his son to whisper into his ear. He let go of him just as quickly and walked out of the room, leaving Dean behind, a shocked expression on his face as he sunk back into the bed.

John walked past Hayley, who had been standing outside Dean's room. She looked at him questioningly, but he didn't say anything. He just nodded at her with a small smile before he wandered off to his room.

She walked back into Dean's room, forming a smile on her face. "Hey," she said and he gathered himself again, looking up at her.

"Hey," he replied with a soft smile.

"I brought you pizza. You must be starving after that coma. I know I was," she said, trying to get his mind off whatever John had told him. But deep inside, she already knew what they had talked about.

"Great. Just what I needed," he said, faking a smile and she sat down next to him as he chewed on his slice. They sat there in silence for a while, thinking quietly, and enjoying each other's company without saying much more.

* * *

 _ **Flashback, 6 months ago**_

 **Lawrence, Kansas**

"That boy…he has such powerful abilities. But why he couldn't sense his own father, I have no idea," Missouri said as she walked back into her living room and no one other than John Winchester himself was now sitting on her little couch.

"Mary's spirit – do you really think she saved the boys?" John asked her and she looked at him.

"I do," Missouri replied.

"I saw her, too," Hayley said and he looked over to her as she leaned casually against the door frame. He nodded sadly at them, twisting the wedding ring, he was still wearing, on his finger.

"John Winchester, I could just slap you. Why won't you go talk to your children?" Missouri snapped at him, shaking her head.

"I want to. You have no idea how much I wanna see 'em," he replied tearfully. "But I can't. Not yet. Not until I know the truth." He shared a look with the psychic and she nodded at him.

"What truth? Are you hunting the thing that killed their mother?" Hayley asked. She had too many questions and knew she would probably never get all the answers out of him.

"Yeah," he said with a nod, gathering himself again. "And I can't put them in the middle of all of this. That's why I need your help."

"How can I help? I don't even know half about the things you guys are hunting," she replied.

"You seem like a smart girl. You'll figure it out. I just need you to keep an eye on them. Tell me if something's going on. Protect them if necessary," John replied.

"Of course. I'd do anything," she assured him with a nod. Watching the brothers just for one day had been enough for her to make that decision and she realized that Missouri had been right all along. They did have a lot in common and not just dead mothers. They had families that cared for each other.

"But protect them from what?" Hayley asked quietly.

John sighed and shared a look with Missouri. "There's something you need to know about Sam."

* * *

Sam walked down the long familiar corridor, carrying a cup of coffee in his hand. He definitely had spent too much time in that hospital and he was glad they could all finally leave soon.

He walked past his father's room, peeking inside. "Dad?!"

His eyes widened in shock when he saw his father's body lifeless on the ground. He dropped the cup, coffee splashing on the floor, as he ran over to his father, kneeling down beside him and screaming for help on the top of his lungs.

It felt like hours until finally doctors and nurses stormed his father's room. They pushed him out the doorway, where he was soon joined by Dean and Hayley, who watched the team of doctors try to revive their father in shock.

"No, no, no, it's our Dad. It's our Dad!" Dean pleaded helplessly. It couldn't end this way. "Come on."

"Okay, stop compressions," one doctor ordered.

"Come on, come on," Dean mumbled anxiously as he felt Hayley's hand on his arm.

"Still no pulse," a nurse said.

"Okay, that's it everybody," the doctor announced. "I'll call it. Time of death: 10:41 am."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Hope you liked the first chapter of this sequel! I was really excited to write it and incorporate a little more background story to Hayley and how she met the boys. Looks like John's and Hayley's secret will be out soon!

The song for this first chapter was pretty obvious too. Of course, Dean wouldn't just abandon his job, just because he's invisible and half-dead. Doing it to death! The Winchesters always go down swinging ;)

And yeah, you guys. I know you probably want Dean/Hayley to happen and I promise it will...at one point. This is definitely slow burn. So slow that you're gonna curse me by the end of this story. But I feel like everything else wouldn't feel natural. Season 2 Dean is pretty much struggling with his own demons and Hayley still has one foot in her old life and one in her new one. I think she needs to finish whatever she started with Mike and find some closure before jumping into anything new. That's just my opinion and the feeling I get when I write scenes with the two in them. But I would love to hear your opinion on this as well!

I hope you're happy with the title I picked too. I had the hardest time with that, but I feel like it fits nicely to season 2 and to this particular story. I will also update the cover image soon. I'm trying to draw a comic version of Hayley (getting her costume right seems to be the hardest part).

Thank you so much for following this story so far! I'm thrilled to start writing season 2. There's a lot going on in the Impala as well as Central City. Plus, we might learn more about the Reverse Flash and Hayley's past, so stay tuned!

If you have any specific wishes concerning plot lines or questions at all, you can always PM me. I'd be happy to answer :)

I also love getting reviews as it motivates me a lot to continue writing and gives me a good feeling of what you guys love/hate!

PS: Thanks for the latest review on _Saved in a Flash_! I love the Reverse Flash storyline too! I'm stoked to write it, especially with the ever-suspicious Winchesters in it on one side, and our ever-trusting heroine on the other. It will mostly follow the Flash's OG storyline, but I do have a different ending in mind ;) and yeah, Zoom during the Apocalypse is just going to be awesome. I can really see him thrive on that :D


	2. Everybody Loves a Clown

_Buried deep as you can dig inside yourself_  
 _And covered with a perfect shell_  
 _Such a charming, beautiful exterior_  
 _Laced with brilliant smiles and shining eyes_  
 _Perfect posture, but you're barely scraping by_  
 _But you're barely scraping by_

 _This is one time, this is one time_  
 _That you can't fake it hard enough to please everyone_  
 _Or anyone at all...or anyone at all_  
 _And the grave that you refuse to leave_  
 _The refuge that you've built to flee,_  
 _The places that you've come to fear the most,_  
 _Is the place that you have come to fear the most._

 _The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most_ by **Dashboard Confessional**

* * *

 **2\. Everybody Loves a Clown (SPN 2.02)**

The fire from the funeral pyre was warm, its brightness so mesmerizing that it was hard to even see the stars in the dark night sky. It was a fitting custom – hunters usually burned and salted their bodies when they died to avoid becoming spirits themselves.

The three of them stood there for a while, watching as the body before them slowly burned to ashes. Hayley's head rested on Sam's shoulder, their hands intertwined, giving him the comfort that he needed. Dean kept his distance, standing a few inches away from them. She turned her eyes away from the fire, looking at the two brothers. Sam was crying, tears rolling down his cheeks as he sobbed next to her. She glanced at Dean, who stood there still and cold like a marble statue, quiet, carved for eternity. And she worried.

She worried about them. She worried that without John around there was no one guiding them anymore. She worried that now that they had lost every family member, they would lose themselves. Because she knew just how easy that was. And most importantly, she worried that soon there would be two more funerals she had to attend.

She reached out her hand with a soft smile. She had given him the space he needed, but she also needed him to know that she was still there. Dean glanced at her outstretched arm for a moment. He swallowed hard and grabbed it, his eyes turning back to the fire before him.

"Before he…," Sam tried to say, a few sobs escaping his mouth, making it hard for him to talk at all. "Before, did he say anything to you? About anything?" Sam asked and looked at Dean.

He was silent, his green eyes not leaving the flames. "No. Nothing," he replied quietly. He didn't look at his little brother once. He couldn't.

He let go of Hayley's hand, turning his back on the burning pile, and returned to their car.

Hayley stroke Sam's arm gently until he looked at her. She gestured back at the car, following Dean. Sam's eyes wandered one last time to his father's body before he joined them.

* * *

 **Sioux Falls, South Dakota**

Dean stared at the opened hood of the Impala, or at least something that resembled the Impala once. His baby was a wreck, but so was he.

He glanced over at Hayley, lying on the hood of a demolished car in the middle of Bobby's junkyard. She had a book in one hand, a bottle of beer in the other. Any other time, he would have appreciated the sight. And this wasn't particular to Hayley. Any woman in jeans shorts and a tank top on the top of a car in the prying midday sun would have caught his attention immediately.

"You know it's been a week. You don't have to keep hangin' out here. We're not hunting anything, Speedy," Dean said, grabbing a wrench from Bobby's toolbox.

"I know," she said with a shrug, not looking up from the pages.

"No, I mean it. We'll call you when there's a job," he continued and she giggled.

"Are you trying to get rid of me, Winchester?" She looked up from her book with a wide grin and he frowned. "You know that didn't work out for you the first time around."

"Well, I know _that_. I'm just sayin', you still have a family back home. Usually you can't wait to see them again," Dean said and it made her stomach turn. She _did_ still have a family at home and she missed them, but she couldn't just leave the brothers alone. Not again.

Returning home would also mean facing Mike again, and she just couldn't do that now. She couldn't even return any of his calls or texts, so actual face-time seemed like an even worse idea.

"I called them yesterday. They're fine. Central City is quiet and meta-human free for now," she said satisfied and he sighed. Something had been bothering her, too. He could tell.

"You know you never finished that story of what happened in Central City when you left," Dean stated and that caught her attention. She put the book down next to her, taking a chug from her beer.

"Yeah, there's a lot of stories I haven't finished yet," she muttered under her breath, thinking about what she still had to tell him. She could see he was suffering. She knew because she had been there too not that long ago. But for him, it had to be a million times worse.

He still couldn't remember what had happened during his coma. Or so he told her. Neither did he talk about what John had said to him before his death. Not that she didn't already know. But how could she be sure? And she knew better than to push him on this matter. There just never seemed to be a right time.

"What?"

"Nothing," she mumbled. "Hmm, let's see. A meta-human stole my powers, almost fried me and oh, two demons tried to kill me," she recounted nonchalantly, mostly just to tease him. She thought it was a good way to get them back into their old habits.

"What?!" And it worked.

"Would you relax? I'm obviously still alive and annoying you with my glorious presence," she said with a grin.

"Stop telling me to relax!" He said, frowning, but that only made her chuckle more. He sighed deeply, turning his attention back to his car, but his curiosity had already peaked.

"Just one question," he added, looking back at her.

"Sure. Shoot," she said, smiling away winningly, earning her another frown.

"How _are_ you still alive?"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," she replied with a laugh.

"What?" It was a legitimate question.

"You're the one, who's training me. You're supposed to motivate me, tell me how good I am," she argued.

"Yeah, like you need even _more_ confidence," Dean said.

"I'll just take that as a compliment," she replied with a smile.

"Of course, _you_ would," he said with a grin. She crossed her arms and raised a brow at him. "Besides, I'm training you to get better. You make a mistake, you die," he replied, returning to his darker side again.

"See? This is exactly why I'm always telling you to relax," Hayley retorted and he sniggered a little. She was probably right – not that he would ever tell her that.

"Get back to the point, Speedy," he said, grabbing a towel to wipe away the sweat on his face before he took another tool and turned back to the Impala. Working on the car in the summer heat had probably been the worst idea ever, but he had needed to do something.

"All I'm saying is…that you've trained me well," she said with a kind smile that surprised him. He had expected something different from her. "So you know, maybe you can stop waking me up now at 4AM in the morning to train me for six hours." Something like that.

"So let me get this straight, you got rid of two demons without having your speed?" He raised his brows at her doubtfully, ignoring her former comment.

"Well, Mike helped a little. Fought them off and gave me time to exorcise them," she replied, taking another sip from her beer.

"You two are back together now, doing some couple crime fighting?" He asked jokingly.

"What? No!" That definitely had hit a nerve. "Besides, you really think if I had a new boyfriend I would be hanging out at a junkyard with you for a week?"

"Fair enough," he admitted defeated. "What happened then?"

"You know, I kinda thought we had an agreement," she said and he threw her a confused look.

"What agreement?"

"A _silent_ one. You know…we don't talk about me, we don't talk about you. You work on your car, I read my books."

He thought about it. It was a better deal than he had with Sam. "Fine," he agreed. "How did you get your powers back, anyways?"

"Oh, Dr. Wells helped with that. I mean we did butt heads a little," Hayley replied.

"Really?" Dean asked surprised, looking at her.

"Yeah, but it was just a misunderstanding. Plus, I'm way faster now too," she said and smiled at him happily.

"Well, that's…great," he said, closing the hood of the Impala. He had promised Joe to look out for Hayley and keep an eye on Wells. She still didn't know about the re-opened case of her mother's death or who was their main suspect, but there was no way he could tell her.

It was the only reason why he hadn't gotten rid of her yet. He would have loved the space to think after his father's death, but at least this way he knew she was safe.

"Something wrong?" She asked suspiciously. It was hard to keep anything from her. She was a cop's daughter after all and picked up on just the slightest change in someone's demeanor.

"No, nothing," he replied with a shrug, pretending he didn't know anything about anyone. He cleared his throat, grabbing the wrench again and disappeared under the Impala.

She stared at him for a moment, but he had just vanished under his car, ending their conversation just like that. _Don't push him_ , she reminded herself and turned her focus back to her book.

"How's the car coming along?" Sam asked as he walked out of Bobby's house, joining them.

"Slow," Dean replied simply.

"Yeah? Need any help?" Sam asked softly. He had been trying for over a week now to get his older brother to talk to him, but nothing seemed to work.

"What, you under a hood? I'll pass," Dean retorted.

"Need anything else, then?" Sam asked, ignoring his brother's remark. Hayley looked up carefully from her book. She knew where this was going again. Sometimes the brothers bickered even more than sisters.

Dean pushed himself out from under the Impala, coming to his feet. "Stop it, Sam," he snapped angrily.

"Stop what?" His little brother asked innocently.

"Stop asking if I need anything, stop asking if I'm okay. I'm okay. Really. I promise," Dean assured him.

"All right, Dean, it's just…We've been at Bobby's for over a week now and you haven't brought up Dad once," Sam argued and Hayley threw him a look.

"Sam, c'mon. We've talked about this multiple times in the last week," Hayley threw in, giving him a warning look. _Give him time, Sam. He's gonna talk when he's ready to talk_ , she had tried to tell him. God knows how much she tried to tell him. But he was one stubborn kid.

"Tell him about the agreement," Dean chimed in and Hayley giggled before her expression turned serious again.

"What agreement?" Sam asked, throwing them a confused look at their inside joke.

"Oh, believe me, I have!" Hayley said with a deep sigh before she let herself fall back onto the hood.

"Okay, I'm not pushing. I just think it would be healthy to talk about this," Sam replied meekly and Hayley rolled her eyes at him.

"You know what? You're right," Dean said. And for a brief moment, there was a smile on Sam's face. He turned back to Hayley with a winning grin, before Dean continued talking. "Come here. I'm gonna lay my head gently on your shoulder. Maybe we can cry, hug, and maybe even slow dance," Dean joked with a straight face, and Hayley chortled, almost choking on her beer when Sam's smile turned into a frown.

"Don't patronize me, Dean. Dad is dead. The Colt is gone, and it seems pretty damn likely that the demon is behind all of this, and you're acting like nothing happened," Sam snapped at him.

The weirdest thing about Dean's speedy recovery and John's sudden death had been the disappearance of the Colt. Hayley had told John to think of a plan and apparently he had been successful. She just wished she knew what exactly that plan had been.

"What do you want me to say?" Dean asked with a shrug.

"Say something, all right? Hell, say anything! Aren't you angry? Don't you want revenge? But all you do is sit out here all day long buried underneath this damn car," Sam complained.

"Revenge, huh?" Dean furrowed his brows at his little brother.

"Yeah," Sam said with a nod.

"Sounds good. You got any leads on where the demon is? Making heads or tails of any of Dad's research? Because I sure ain't and neither does Hayley. But you know, if we do finally find it – oh. No, wait, like you said. The Colt's gone. But I'm sure you've figured out another way to kill it," Dean ranted. "We've got nothing, Sam. _Nothing_ , okay? So you know the only thing I can do? Is I can work on the car," he said, turning back to the workbench, switching his tools again.

"Well, we've got something, all right?" Sam said suddenly, catching Dean and Hayley's attention immediately. He pulled out a cellphone from his pockets and Hayley jumped off her car and walked over to them, staring at it. "It's what I came by here to tell you two. This is one of Dad's old phones. Took me a while, but I cracked his voicemail code," Sam said.

"How did you crack his code?" Hayley asked, raising a brow.

"I, uh, I asked Cisco," Sam confessed and Hayley threw her head back.

"Course you did," she scoffed.

"Well, you refused to help me. And Cisco had a program for it," Sam said defiantly.

"Yeah… _mine_ ," Hayley replied annoyed. Not that she didn't want to help Sam, she just didn't think it was the best idea for him to snoop around in John's things.

"By the way, he said you should call him. Something about Mike," Sam added, knowingly pushing a few buttons with her.

"So…what did you find?" Hayley asked, clearing her throat.

"Smooth," Dean commented her subject-changing skills with a thumbs up and she threw him a look.

"Okay, well, listen to this," Sam replied and handed Dean the phone. His brother took it reluctantly, not sure what to expect from it.

"John, it's Ellen. Again. Look, don't be stubborn, you know I can help you. Call me," a woman's voice said.

"That message is four months old," Sam informed them.

"Dad saved that chick's message for four months?" Dean asked disapprovingly and Sam nodded.

"Who is she? Do you guys know her?" Hayley asked, looking up at them, but they both shook their heads.

"Any mention of her in Dad's journal?" Dean asked.

"No," Sam replied, shaking his head again. "But I thought maybe Hayley could trace the number, get an address?" Sam suggested and the brothers looked expectantly at her.

"Fine. Gimme 3.4 seconds," Hayley replied, grabbing the phone from Dean's hands before she vanished into the house.

"Ask Bobby if we can use one of his cars," Dean said to his little brother. Sam nodded and headed eagerly inside as well. It looked like they were back on the road again.

* * *

 **Nebraska**

Hayley had managed to trace the number back to an Ellen Harvelle somewhere in the Sandhills of Nebraska. And four and a half hours later they had reached an abandoned old roadhouse.

Dean grumpily killed the engine of the minivan, Bobby had given them, and it came to a halt with a loud screech. The car was beat-up and had almost broken down a couple of times on their way there, but it was still in a better shape than his Baby.

They got out of the van and Dean slammed the door close angrily. "This is humiliating. I feel like a friggin' soccer mom!" He complained. He had been a grouch on the whole ride here.

"It's the only car Bobby had running," Sam said. "And you wouldn't let Hayley take us."

"Yeah, 'cause I don't feel like puking today," Dean replied and Hayley giggled.

"Oh, c'mon. That only happened once. Besides, you're not the first person this happened to. There's no shame in it," Hayley joked and Dean threw her a look.

They walked up to the door of the roadhouse, looking inside through the dirty windows. The place seemed empty and overall run-down. It looked more like a shed with thin wooden walls and a tin roof.

"Hello? Anybody here?" Sam called out, but no one answered.

"Hey. You bring the, uh…?" Dean said to Sam.

"Of course," his little brother replied, tossing him the picks. Dean caught them gracefully and started working on unlocking the door.

"I'll check the perimeter," Hayley announced enthusiastically an the boys gave her a slight nod of approval. But really, she just wanted to run a little to clear her head, and what better place was there to do this than the _Great American Desert_. It certainly had worked well for Forrest Gump.

The brothers opened the door of the little saloon and walked inside. A light bulb blew out in front of them as they entered and there was a little bar at the end, a jukebox in the corner and overall it looked like their typical road joint. It was dark in the room and there wasn't a soul around, except for a guy, who seemed to have passed out on the pool table. He looked like the typical bar hillbilly with the mullet and a flannel shirt.

"Hey, buddy?" Sam said carefully as the brothers approached the man, but he was unresponsive. "I'm guessing that isn't Ellen."

"Yeah," Dean agreed.

Sam turned away from the man, checking out the back room while Dean walked down the little stairs to the bar. He stopped in his tracks, feeling something sting into his lower back, which could only be two things.

"Oh God, please let that be a rifle," Dean joked as he felt the point of a gun. There was a gun cock as a woman's voice replied.

"No, I'm just real happy to see you," she joked back. "Don't move," she ordered him.

"Not moving, copy that," Dean said, raising his hands in the air. "You know, you should know something, miss. When you put a rifle on someone, you don't want to put it right against their back. Because it makes it real easy to do…," Dean said as he swiftly turned around, grabbing the rifle in one fluid motion, and cocked it. "…that."

The woman turned out to be a young attractive blonde. She stared at him perplexed for a moment before she punched him in the face, winning back her rifle. She had hit him right on the nose and he clutched it in pain.

"Guys! Need some help in here," he called out after Sam and Hayley while the blonde held him at gun point with a smirk on her face. "I can't see, I can't even see," he muttered, still feeling a little dizzy from the burning pain in his face.

The back door flung open and Dean watched as his little brother walked out of it, hands raised behind his head. "Sorry, Dean, I can't right now. I'm a…little tied up," Sam explained and gestured back to an older brunette, pointing her handgun at his head.

"Sam! Dean!" They heard Hayley yell outside and soon, she came strolling through the front door. "Well, there's nothing outsi-," she started to say before she looked up. She stared at them baffled for a second. She certainly hadn't expected to find them like this – held at gun point by two women.

"Great. Left you two alone again for five seconds and you get beaten up by women," she muttered, cursing herself and the brothers threw her a look.

"Sam? Dean…Winchester?" The brunette woman suddenly asked and the three looked at her.

"Yeah," the brothers replied simultaneously, a confused look on their faces.

"Son of a bitch," she mumbled, a smile forming on her face.

"Mom, you know these guys?" The blonde girl asked.

"Yeah, I think these are John Winchester's boys," she said with a laugh and lowered her gun.

"Hey, I'm Ellen. This is my daughter Jo," she introduced them.

Ellen's daughter lowered her rifle as well and Dean gave her a smile. "Hey," Jo said with a simple nod while Dean was still holding on to his nose.

"You're not gonna hit me again, are you?" He asked a little frightened of her and she grinned at him in response.

"You did this to him?" Hayley asked her with a laugh and Jo nodded confidently. "You know, I've wanted to do this to him since I met him," she said with a grin and Dean narrowed his eyes at her.

"Huh. I can see why," Jo said, laughing, looking him up and down and Dean threw both of them a look.

"And who are you?" Ellen asked, looking at Hayley.

"Hi, I'm Hayley. Worst bodyguard ever," she joked and shook Ellen's hand.

* * *

The three sat down at a small table next to the bar and Ellen handed Dean a towel filled with ice since he was still nursing his nose.

"Here you go," she said and he took it thankfully, holding it over his injury.

"Thanks. You called our Dad, said you could help. Help with what?" Dean asked, coming straight to the point of their visit.

"Well, the demon, of course," Ellen replied like it wasn't a big deal. "I heard he was closing in on it."

"What, was there an article in the Demon Hunters Quarterly that I missed? I mean, who, who are you? How do you know about all this?" Dean snapped at her. She probably didn't deserve it, but he hated the fact that his father seemed to tell strangers more than his own sons.

"Hey, I just run a saloon. But hunters have been known to pass through now and again. Including your Dad a long time ago. John was like family once," Ellen said defensively.

"Oh yeah? How come he never mentioned you before?" Dean asked dubiously.

"You'd have to ask him that," Ellen replied.

"So why exactly do we need your help?" Dean asked rather impolite and Hayley threw him a warning look. He knew she hated it whenever he lost his temper, but this time he just didn't care about the wrath that would rain down on him once they were back in that crappy old car.

"Hey, don't do me any favors. Look, if you don't want my help, fine. Don't let the door smack your ass on the way out. But John wouldn't have sent you if…," Ellen said before she suddenly stopped and looked like she realized something. "He didn't send you."

Dean became silent, staring down at his feet before he glanced back up at Sam and Hayley.

"No, uh, he didn't," Hayley said and Ellen threw them a worried look.

"He's all right, isn't he?" She asked.

"No. No, he isn't. It was the demon, we think. It, uhm, it just got him before he got it, I guess," Sam replied quietly.

"I'm so sorry," she said softly, clearly shocked by the news.

"It's okay. We're all right," Dean replied, feigning a smile.

"Really? I know how close you and your Dad were," Ellen said.

"Really, lady, I'm fine," Dean retorted and this time Sam threw him a look.

"So look, if you can help, we could use all the help we can get," Sam said, steering them back to topic.

"Well, we can't. But Ash will," Ellen replied.

"Who's Ash?" Hayley asked, raising a brow.

"Ash!" Ellen shouted and the mullet man, who had been passed out on the pool table, came to life again. He rattled awake and sat up, looking confused at them.

"What? It closin' time?" Ash asked, still a little drunk.

"That's Ash?" Sam asked surprised, looking at Ellen.

"Mhm. He's a genius," Jo replied with a grin.

"Really?" Hayley asked, tilting her head to look at the man again. "Huh. I guess you never know."

* * *

Dean smacked a brown folder down on the bar. It was filled with documents – all of John's research on the yellow eyed demon that he could find.

He stood steadily behind his brother and the quirky wannabe mastermind sitting at the bar, looking curiously at the folder. Hayley had set up her laptop next to them while Jo poured them some water behind the bar in the stinging heat.

"You've gotta be kidding me, this guy's no genius. He's a Lynyrd Skynyrd roadie," Dean said, raising his eyebrows.

"I like you," Ash replied, looking back at him with a laugh.

"Thanks," Dean said, still grumpy.

"Just give him a chance," Jo encouraged him with a smile.

He took a seat next to them and opened the folder. "All right. This stuff's about a year's worth of our Dad's work, so uh, let's see what you make of it," Dean challenged.

"Come on. This crap ain't real," Ash said as he rummaged through the papers. "There ain't nobody can track a demon like this."

"Our Dad could," Sam threw in, frowning at him.

"These are non-parametrics, statistical overviews, prospects…," Hayley explained.

"…and correlations," Ash finished for her, his eyes not leaving the pages. "I mean…damn! They're signs. Omens. Uh, if you can track 'em, you can track this demon. You know, like crop failures, electrical storms…You ever been struck by lightening? It ain't fun," he said, turning back to them.

"No, it isn't…," Hayley mumbled and the brothers threw her an amused look. "Right…but problem is, you'd need a computer with at least 21 PFLOPS to handle that much data."

"Which is exactly what I've built in my office," he said nonchalantly and Hayley stared at him wide-eyed.

"Wait, what?" Her jaw dropped to the floor. She couldn't believe someone like him had built such an incredible supercomputer just like that.

"His office is in the back," Jo said with a wink.

"Course it is," Dean muttered, not surprised that the supposed genius' office was in the back of a bar.

"Can you track it or not?" Sam asked, getting impatient.

"Yeah, with this, I think so. But it's gonna take time, uh, give me…fifty one hours," Ash said, taking the papers with him as he left for his office to get to work.

"Hey, man?" Dean called after him, smiling, and Ash spun around.

"Yeah?"

"I, uh, I dig the haircut," Dean joked with a wink.

"All business up front, party in the back," Ash replied confidently and flipped his hand through his mullet. He winked at Hayley before he disappeared into his office.

Dean chuckled, thinking Hayley would probably reject him, until he noticed her staring after Ash with her head slightly tilted and chewing on her bottom lip. He narrowed his eyes at her and cleared his throat.

"What?" Hayley asked innocently, not feeling caught at all. "He's hot," she argued.

"Really?!" Dean and Jo replied simultaneously, a big question mark appearing above their heads.

Jo then interrupted her duties as a bartender and walked over to the other side of the room, sitting down at a little booth by the window. On her way there, she passed Dean flirtingly, a teasing smile playing on her face.

Hayley looked after her and then back to Dean, who seemed completely oblivious to Jo's flirting attempt, staring at the beer in front of him.

She hit his arm. "Dude," she hissed at him, gesturing back to Jo. His eyes followed hers to the booth and then back to her.

"What?" He asked with a shrug.

"Are you serious, Winchester? There's a perfectly fine girl at five o'clock and you're not gonna hit on her?" She raised her eyebrows at him. "And she definitely flirted with you. That was like a classic flirt-walk."

"There's no such thing as a flirt-walk," Dean argued, taking another sip from his beer.

"Sure there is. Did it to you the first time you came to Central City," she replied nonchalantly and he almost choked on his beer.

"You just played that?" He sounded a little hurt.

"Duh," Hayley replied like it had been obvious the whole time. "You literally tried to kill me the night before. I know I'm flirty, but I'm not suicidal." Dean threw her a look at that last comment. He could have sworn many times before that she actually _was_ suicidal.

"Anyways, stop changing the subject. Get your ass over there, use the infamous Dean Winchester charm and live a little," Hayley suggested enthusiastically.

"Not in the mood," he replied simply and she let out a frustrated sigh in response.

"Fine," she mumbled, playing with her glass. "You think Ash does kinky stuff. He looks like he does…," she pondered and Dean threw her a look.

"Okay, I'm going," he declared as he got up from the bar and walked over to Jo with his beer in hand. Hayley looked happily after him, hoping this would put him in a better mood.

Jo was looking out the window, sipping on a beer when he sat down across from her in the little booth. She looked up at him with a pleased smile.

"How did your Mom get into this stuff, anyway?" Dean asked. He still didn't know a lot about the two as his father had never mentioned them before. Like so many other things.

"From my Dad. He was a hunter. He passed away," Jo replied.

"I'm sorry," Dean said.

"It was a long time ago. I was just a kid. Sorry to hear about your Dad," Jo said, looking at him.

"Yeah," he mumbled uncomfortably. "So…I guess I've got fifty one hours to waste. Maybe tonight we should, uh…," he started, trying to change the topic like Hayley had wanted him to. He looked over to her at the bar as she was buried in her computer before he looked back up at Jo. "No, you know what? Never mind," Dean said, changing his mind.

"What?" Jo asked, a smile on her face.

"Nothing, just, uh, wrong place, wrong time," Dean replied simply.

"You know, I thought you were gonna toss me some cheap pickup line," Jo said and he chuckled embarrassed. He definitely would have done that, but something was holding him back today. "Most hunters come through that door, think they can get in my pants with some…pizza, a six pack, and side one of Zeppelin IV."

"Well…what a bunch of scumbags," Dean said. Any other day, he would have been one of those scumbags.

"Not you," Jo stated, seeming surprised and pleased at the same time.

"I guess not," he replied, sipping on his beer.

Meanwhile, Hayley had used the break to do work for her actual job back home. She was surprised no one had fired her yet, but she suspected Joe had something to do with it. Many times she had thought about quitting. She could do a lot more good as the Flash or even as a hunter than as a CSI. After the last week she had been more determined than ever to leave it all behind. But she never had been a quitter and she wouldn't start now.

Instead she focused on something else – something she had been afraid of for a long time. A few days ago, she had hacked into CCPD's records to look for her mother's case. She had never dared to look at those files before. Not because of the cruel reminder of her mother's death, but because she already knew what they all said – a young girl's crazy story about the impossible to cover up her father's crime.

But the brothers' fight against the yellow eyed demon had motivated her to do more and face her own yellow nemesis. To her surprise, there were no existent records. All she found were traces of deleted files. And when she snuck into the precinct's archives to look for hardcopies last night, she found none either. And now, just like the brothers, she wanted answers.

"Hey, Ellen, what is that?" Sam asked as he sat next to Hayley, looking at a folder stuck between the wall and a radio behind the bar.

"It's a police scanner. We keep tabs on things, we…," Ellen said.

"No, no, no, no, the, uhm, the folder," Sam interrupted her.

"Uh, I was gonna give this to a friend of mine. But take a look, if you want," Ellen replied, getting the folder and placed it front of Sam. There were newspaper clippings inside among some other research. _Couple murdered. Child left alive. Medford, Wisc._ was written in big red letters.

Sam tapped Hayley on the shoulder and she turned away and looked at the folder curiously. She had been itching for a new case for days. This could be the thing that gets them back on track.

"Dean, come here, check this out," Sam called out and Dean immediately got up from his seat with Jo and walked over to them at the bar.

"A few murders, not far from here that Ellen caught wind of. Looks to me like there might be a hunt," Sam said, trying not to sound too excited. He, too, had been itching for a hunt.

"Yeah. So?" Dean asked with a sigh. He knew were this was going.

"Please, please, please can we go?" Hayley begged, pulling the good old puppy eyes card on him.

"Do we have to?" Dean asked annoyed.

"I already told her we'd check it out," Sam replied with a grin and Dean rolled his eyes at them.

"Yes! Awesome," Hayley shrieked excitedly. "I hope it's a ghost."

"You just hope it's a ghost, because it's actually the only thing you _can_ kill," Dean argued crankily.

"Hey!" Hayley threw him a look. "Besides, I'm not killing them. They're already dead. I'm just releasing them and sending them off to a better life," she replied optimistically and he shook his head at her.

"Yeah, unless they're going to hell…which most of them probably will, considering they usually kill a bunch of people first," Dean retorted and Hayley rolled her eyes.

"You're no fun. I'll go warm up the minivan, Scrooge," she replied and bounced away.

Sam sniggered next to him and Dean glared at him. "What?" He asked his little brother irritated. Sam stopped laughing, following Hayley outside.

"She's right. You are no fun…Scrooge," Sam replied with a laugh and headed out the door.

* * *

It was a rainy and dark night. The geek squad was at full throttle. Somehow Hayley had managed to build a little tech lab in the back of the van in a matter of seconds while Sam sat in the passenger's seat, sticking to his laptop.

"You've gotta be kidding me. A killer clown?" Dean asked, furrowing his brows when the two told him about various sightings of a clown.

"Yeah. He left the daughter unharmed and killed the parents. Ripped them to pieces, actually," Sam replied.

"Guess they didn't die of laughter then," Hayley joked from the back and the brothers chuckled.

"And this family was at some carnival that night?" Dean asked.

"Right, right. The, uh, _Cooper Carnivals_ ," Sam said, reading through his research.

"So how do you know we're not dealing with some psycho carnie in a clown suit?" Dean asked, still unsure about this hunt. His companions had been eager to jump on it and he knew it was for purely selfish reasons. They both wanted to escape their own mind for a while and he couldn't blame them. Maybe that's what he needed to do as well – a good old monster hunt.

"Like John Wayne Gacy?" Hayley asked.

"Maybe," Dean replied with a shrug.

"Well, even if it's just a human, we need to stop it and help people. That's our job," Hayley said.

"That's not our job. We hunt monsters, remember?" Dean threw in.

"Well, that's not my job. I save all people. Plus people like that _are_ monsters as well," Hayley replied.

"I agree," Sam said with a grin and Dean rolled his eyes at the two. "Besides, the cops have no viable leads, and all the employees were tearing down shop. Alibis all around. Plus this girl said she saw a clown vanish into thin air. Cops are saying trauma, of course," Sam replied.

"Well, that's what they said about me when I tried to tell the truth," Hayley muttered and Dean glanced back at her in the rearview mirror.

"Exactly," Sam agreed.

"Well, I know what you're thinking, Sam. Why did it have to be clowns?" Dean joked and subtly changed the subject.

"Oh, give me a break," Sam exclaimed and fell back into his seat, rolling his eyes. Dean started to laugh.

"What?" Hayley asked, sneaking up closer to them with a curious look at Sam.

"You didn't think I'd remember, did you?" Dean said with a laugh. "I mean, come on, you still bust out crying whenever you see Ronald McDonald on the television," Dean said, sniggering away.

"You're afraid of clowns?" Hayley asked with a giggle. She hadn't expected Sam, the tall hunter, to be afraid of anything. At least not of something like a clown. "He made you watch _It_ as a kid, didn't he?"

"In fact, he did," Sam confessed with a pout.

"Don't put your weird fetish on me, man," Dean replied with a chuckle.

"Well, at least I'm not afraid of flying," Sam countered defensively, looking at Dean. Hayley's eyes wandered to him, a broad grin on her face. And then she started to burst into full on laughter.

"Planes crash!" Dean argued.

"And apparently clowns kill!" Sam opposed.

Sam and Hayley looked at Dean expectantly, waiting for him to come up with a counterargument. When he struggled to find one, they both fell into laughter again.

"So these types of murders, they ever happen before?" Dean asked, ignoring their teasing.

"Uh, according to the file, 1981, the Bunker Brothers Circus, same M.O. It happened three times, three different locales," Sam stated.

"It's weird, though, I mean if it is a spirit it's usually bound to a specific locale, you know, a house, or a town," Dean mused.

"So how's this one moving from city to city, carnival to carnival?" Sam asked.

"Maybe it's like that creepy painting in New York?" Hayley chimed in.

"Cursed object? Maybe. Spirit attaches itself to something and the, uh, carnival carries it around with them," Dean said, thinking about it.

"Carnivals do have a lot of weird stuff lying around," Hayley said.

"Great. Paranormal scavenger hunt," Sam replied, a little annoyed at the fact.

"Well, this case was _your_ idea," Dean huffed. "By the way, why is that? You were awfully quick to jump on this job," he asked, raising his brows at his little brother. He watched Sam squirm in his seat a little before he answered.

"So?" Sam asked, wearing his most innocent look. "So was Hayley and I don't see you giving her any grievance about it."

"Yeah, that's 'cause I already know what's up with her from the annoying and constant buzzing of her phone over the last week," Dean replied and glanced back at her. She narrowed her eyes at him, ready for another argument when her phone rang again. He grinned at her winningly and she grabbed it and threw it out the window.

"Better?" She asked through gritted teeth and he nodded. He knew better than to push her with that particular look on her face.

"Why do I need a reason?" Sam asked and Dean turned away from Hayley and looked at him again.

"It's just…not like you, that's all. I thought you were hell-bent for leather on the demon hunt," Dean replied.

"I don't know, I just think, this job…it's what Dad would have wanted us to do," Sam said.

"What _Dad_ would have wanted?" Dean questioned, furrowing his brows. Hayley sensed an oncoming fight and retreated herself further back.

"Yeah. So?" Sam challenged.

"Nothin'," Dean replied, which earned him two baffled looks. It just wasn't like him.

* * *

 **Medford, Wisconsin**

The rest of their ten hour drive was quiet. Neither of them had felt like talking. They had listened to Dean's top five albums twice and were onto their third round, when the screeching minivan arrived at the carnival.

"Check it out. Five-oh," dean said as he parked the car and looked out of the front window to a bunch of cops talking to some carnival workers.

Dean and Hayley talked to the cops, trying to gather more information on this case. Sam waited for them a little further away, skimming the environment.

A little woman, no more than three feet tall and black hair, walked by him. She stopped when she noticed him staring at her clown costume. He fumbled nervously in his pockets. She looked at him perplexed for a moment before she continued her stroll and he started to relax a little again.

"Did you get her number?" Dean joked as he walked up to his little brother.

"Where's Hayley?" Sam asked as he was missing the speedster on his brother's side.

"Geeking out over the new crime scenes," Dean replied and Sam scowled.

"More murders?" He asked, frowning.

"Two more last night. Apparently they were ripped to shreds. And they had a little boy with them," Dean said.

"Who fingered a clown," Sam muttered uncomfortably. Dean threw his brother a weird look. The clown fear was definitely getting worse.

"What?" Sam asked, offended.

"Yeah, a _clown_ , who apparently vanished into thin air," Dean continued.

"Dean, you know, looking for a cursed object is like trying to find a needle in a stack of needles. They could be anything," Sam grumbled.

"Well, it's bound to give off EMF, so we'll just have to scan everything," Dean replied optimistically.

"Oh, good, that's nice and…inconspicuous," Sam murmured.

"I guess we'll just have to blend in," Dean replied with a smile, gesturing to a _Help Wanted_ sign.

* * *

"Hey. You find anything?" Sam asked as Hayley approached the brothers between a couple of tents.

"Nope. No sulfur, no EMF, no ectoplasm, no weird…anything," Hayley replied frustrated. "You?"

"No, not yet. We're still looking for this Cooper guy," Sam informed her and the three of them proceeded to walk into a tent.

There was an older man throwing knives at a target, almost all of them landing on bulls-eye.

"Excuse me, we're looking for a Mr. Cooper. Have you seen him around?" Dean asked, wandering into the tent. The man turned around, an angry expression on his face.

"What is that, some kind of joke?" The man asked. He had been wearing sunglasses and when he took them off, it became clear that the man was blind.

"Oh. God, I'm, I'm sorry," Dean stammered out embarrassed.

"You think I wouldn't give my eyeteeth to _see_ Mr. Cooper? Or a sunset, or anything at all?" The man snapped at him.

"Wanna give me a little help here?" Dean whispered back at his companions, but both of them were too busy hiding their grins.

"Not really," Sam said.

"Nope," Hayley agreed, chewing down on her bottom lip.

"Hey man, is there a problem?" Suddenly a voice asked. The three followed its sound to a little man, entering the tent. He was at least three heads smaller than Hayley and _that_ meant a lot. He was in a costume, wearing a red cape.

"Yeah, this guy hates blind people," the blind man complained, gesturing at Dean.

"No, I don't, I…," Dean tried to defend himself.

"Hey buddy, what's your problem?" The short guy snapped at him.

"Nothing, it's just a little misunderstanding," Dean tried to talk himself out of it nervously, not noticing his poor choice of words.

"Little?! You son of a bitch!" The little man yelled, clenching his fists and letting Dean know, he was ready for a fight.

"No, no, no, no!" Dean called out helplessly. But instead of getting any help, Sam and Hayley couldn't contain themselves anymore and started laughing. "I'm just…could somebody tell me where Mr. Cooper is?" He asked desperately, looking between the short guy and the blind man. "Please?"

* * *

They eventually were led to Mr. Cooper's office. Hayley had refrained from getting a "job". Instead she got a head start on scanning the carnival with the EMF meter. She probably would be done with it by the time the boys returned from their job interview.

"You boys picked a hell of a time to join up. Take a seat," Mr. Cooper said as he led the brothers into his office. It was tiny and crammed with a bunch of odd circus stuff. Dean glanced over to the two available chairs across from Mr. Cooper's desk – a plain black one and a pink one with a giant clown face on it. He was quick enough to jump in front of Sam, forcing his little brother to face his fear again. Sam looked uncomfortable as he fidgeted in the nightmare chair and Dean escaped a small laugh as he watched his brother struggle.

"We've got all kinds of local trouble," Mr. Cooper continued to say, not getting any of their shenanigans.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked.

"Oh, a couple of folks got themselves murdered. Cops always seem to start here first," Mr. Cooper replied, rolling his eyes. "So, you two ever worked the circuit before?"

"Yes sir. Last year through Texas and Arkansas," Sam lied with a serious face.

"Yeah," Dean confirmed and swallowed.

"Doing what? Ride jockies? Butcher? ANS men?" Cooper asked, raising his brows at them.

"Yeah, it's, uh, little bit of everything, I guess," Sam replied.

"You two have never worked a show in your lives before, have you?" Cooper caught them off guard.

"Nope. But we really need the work," Dean replied honestly. "Oh, and uh, Sam here's got a thing for the bearded lady," he joked with an awkward laugh and Sam scowled at him.

"You see that picture?" Cooper asked them, pointing back at a black and white photo of a man in front of a Ferris wheel. "That's my daddy," he stated proudly.

"You look just like him," Sam said kindly.

"He was in the business. Ran a freak show. Till they outlawed them, most places. Apparently displaying the deformed isn't dignified. So most of the performers went from honest work to rotting in hospitals and asylums. That's progress…I guess," he informed them sadly. "You see, this place…it's a refuge for outcasts. Always has been. For folks that don't fit in nowhere else. But you two? You should go to school. Find a couple of girls. Have two point five kids. Live regular," Cooper advised them. They couldn't blame Cooper for thinking that way, but if he only knew how much of outcasts they really were, he would probably hire them in a heartbeat.

Dean was about to argue their qualifications, but Sam already got ahead of him. "Sir?" He leaned in closer to Cooper, showing a dead-serious face. "We don't want to go to school. And we don't want regular. We want this," Sam stated determined and Dean threw him a look.

* * *

"Huh," Dean said as the brothers left Cooper's tent.

"What?" Sam asked, turning back at him.

"Hey guys. So I managed to scan the whole place for any paranormal activity and found nothing. I don't think we're dealing with a cursed object or ghost here," Hayley said as she joined them. But the boys ignored, continuing with their argument.

"That whole, uh, I don't want to go back to school thing…were you just saying that to Cooper or were you, you know, saying it?" Dean asked and his little brother paused for a minute. "Sam?"

"I don't know," Sam replied quietly before he started walking again.

"You don't know?" Dean questioned, following his brother and Hayley trailed confused after them. "I thought that once the demon was dead and the fat lady sings that you were gonna take off, head back to Wussy State," Dean retorted.

"I'm having second thoughts," Sam said, stopping again and looking at his older brother.

"Really?" Dean asked, raising a brow.

"Yeah. I think…Dad would have wanted me to stick with the job," Sam replied.

"Since when do you give a damn what Dad wanted? You spent half your life doing exactly what he didn't want, Sam," Dean snapped.

"Dean, c'mon. Leave it alone," Hayley warned him, frowning.

"No, I wanna know," Dean said stubbornly.

"Since he died, okay?" Sam replied, irritated. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"Naw, I don't have a problem at all," Dean replied, walking away, but the glare in his eyes had been too obvious to hide.

* * *

The brothers became part of the carnival's cleaning crew. It gave them the perfect cover to scan the carnival quietly, without drawing too much attention on them. They blended in perfectly with their red jackets, picking up trash.

"Have you guys not been listening to me?" Hayley asked with a scowl as she walked up to Dean. He was in the red carnival uniform, empting trash into a dumpster, all the while scanning the place unnoticeably with his EMF reader. "I already did all that. You're wasting your time."

"Well, you never can be too careful," he replied simply and she narrowed her eyes at him. He looked up at her and she seemed frustrated to say the least. "Are you okay?" He asked, even though he hated that question himself.

"No!" Hayley exclaimed upset. Unlike him, she at least seemed to answer honestly to that question. "No, I'm not okay with you two fighting."

"We're not fighting. I didn't even say anything to him," Dean replied defensively.

"You're pushing him away, Dean. And that's not fair to him," Hayley argued. He let out a deep sigh. "Look, I know you're grieving and you're allowed to do that on your own terms, but so is he. You two are driving me nuts with this. I'm not sayin' get all 'touchy-feely', but you need to figure this shit out. I'm so close to parent-trapping you guys."

He looked at her for a moment, weighing her words. She was right. Of course, she was. He and Sam needed to figure some things out before it destroys them. But now was not the time, nor the place. They still needed to finish this case. "So you think it's some kinda monster?"

"Yeah," Hayley said with a nod. "There's no evidence of anything else here."

He looked at her briefly before his phone rang. He picked up at Sam's caller ID. "Hello?"

" _Hey, man_ ," Sam said on the other end. He sounded beat.

"What's the matter? You sound like you just saw a clown," Dean joked.

" _Very funny. Skeleton, actually_ ," Sam replied.

"Like a real human skeleton?" Dean asked, furrowing his brows.

" _In the funhouse_ ," Sam clarified. " _Listen, I was thinking. What if the spirit isn't attached to a cursed object – what if it's attached to its own remains?_ "

"Did the bones give off EMF?" Dean asked.

" _Well, no, but-,_ " Sam started, but Dean interrupted him.

"Hayley thinks it might not be paranormal, but monster related. We should check that out as well. We're heading to you," Dean said and hung up.

"What did he say?" Hayley asked curiously as Dean started walking toward the funhouse.

They were suddenly stopped by the blind man again. He grabbed Dean's arm and pulled him closer. "What are you doing here, kid?"

"I'm…I was just sweeping," Dean lied, caught off guard.

" _Bull_ ," the man huffed. "And what were you talking about? Skeletons? What's EMF?"

"Dude, your blind man hearing is out of control," Dean mumbled with an awkward chuckle and Hayley hit his arm, telling him to behave.

"We're a tight-knit group. We don't like outsiders. We take care of our own problems," the blind guy told them, taking a step closer to them and Hayley slipped slowly behind Dean, using him as a shield. The guy started to creep her out.

"We got a problem?" Dean asked, furrowing his brows.

"You tell me – you're the one talking about human bones," the man argued.

"Do you believe in ghosts?" Dean asked all of a sudden.

"What?" The man raised his brows at him.

"My girlfriend here and me…uhm. We're writing a book about them," Dean explained and Hayley threw him a look. He then rambled on about an urban legend of a murderous clown, which they were doing research on.

"Yeah, right…anyways we need to get going. Bye," Hayley said and grabbed Dean, dragging him away from this guy. They disappeared between some tents, hoping to shake him off.

Dean then stopped and sniggered. Hayley turned around and looked puzzled at him. "What?"

"Were you scared of that guy?" Dean asked with a grin.

"What, no!" She said defensively. "But if I'm right about this monster thing, he's definitely suspect number one and now he probably knows we're onto him," she argued and Dean started to laugh.

"What? Hayley…the guy's blind. No way he's our killer clown," Dean countered, shaking his head and she sighed frustrated in response.

"Hey. What took you guys so long?" Sam interrupted them as soon as he saw them walking to the funhouse.

"Long story," Dean and Hayley replied at the same time with a sigh and Sam looked at them confused.

"Mommy, look at the clown!" A little girl not far from the three shouted, pointing her finger at an empty space. They turned their heads in her direction, watching the girl, but there wasn't a clown in sight.

The girl's mother then urged her to keep walking, leaving the carnival again. The three shared a long look. They knew what that meant – stakeout.

* * *

It was night and the three had been sitting in the minivan for a couple of hours now, keeping watch over the killer clown's next victim. They watched the family's house carefully, waiting for their monster to show up. The minivan was at least more spacious as the Impala and Hayley had been eager to do some research on Cooper's carnival and the blind guy, Papazian, as she discovered his real name was.

"Dean, I cannot believe you told Papazian about the homicidal phantom clown," Sam said, shaking his head at his older brother.

"I told him an urban legend about a homicidal phantom clown. I never said it was real," Dean argued. He pulled out his gun and cocked it. Sam immediately grabbed it, pushing Dean's hands down and out of plain sight.

"Keep that down!" Sam said anxiously, throwing his brother a baffled look.

Dean just shrugged and continued with his story. "Oh, and get this. I mentioned the Bunker Brother's Circus in '81 and their, uh, evil clown apocalypse? Guess what."

"What?" Sam asked, playing the game.

"Before Mr. Cooper owned Cooper Carnival, he worked for Bunker Brothers. He was their lot manager," Dean informed him proudly.

"How do you know he was telling the truth? He could set us up," Hayley argued.

"What does the research say?" Dean asked, looking back at her in the rearview mirror.

"Well, apparently he told the truth… _but_ that still doesn't mean he doesn't have an evil agenda," Hayley countered desperately.

"What's her deal?" Sam asked, looking puzzled at Dean.

"Oh, she thinks blind guy is our murder clown," Dean replied casually and Sam chuckled.

"But Hayles, he's blind," Sam responded amused. "How was he supposed to murder all those people?"

"I don't know, okay?" She admitted through gritted teeth. "Maybe he's faking it, but I'm telling you guys, there's something wrong with this man," Hayley said warningly.

"Well, we still need to be sure. Right now, Dean's theory seems more likely," Sam replied before he turned his attention back to Dean. "So you think whatever the spirit's attached to, Cooper just brought it with him?"

"Something like that," Dean said and Hayley sighed, letting herself fall back. Dean shook his head and chuckled. "I can't believe we keep talking about clowns."

* * *

The brothers had fallen asleep and around three in the morning, a light in the dining room went on. Hayley saw the little girl wandering through the house, walking to the front door. She shook the brothers awake and gestured to the door.

Hayley raced them inside unnoticeably through the backdoor – the only time Dean had agreed to let her to that. They hid behind the walls of the hallway, the boys having their weapons at the ready. The girl led the clown towards the stairs.

"Wanna see Mommy and Daddy? They're upstairs," the girl said trustworthily.

Hayley jumped out and grabbed the girl, getting her to safety, while the brothers started shooting at the clown. Dean managed to shoot it in the chest and it fell back on the ground. But the rock salt had done nothing to it and the clown got back up, charging at Sam.

"Sam, watch out!" Dean shouted and Sam jumped to his side. Dean cocked his shotgun and shot at it again. The clown then decided to flee and jumped out of the window, turning invisible in the process.

The girl was still screaming on the top of her lungs in Hayley's arms and soon enough, her parents came rushing down the stairs, the shock of intruders in their house clearly written all over their faces.

"What's going on here? Get away from my-," the father charged at her before he looked at her more closely. More precisely at what she was wearing – her suit. "Flash?" He raised an eyebrow at her dubiously and his wife stared at him baffled before she realized what he meant.

"Yes…yes!" Hayley confirmed.

"Who the hell are they?" He asked, looking at the brothers.

"Uh, those are…burglars, sir. I was just about to bring them to justice for stealing your TV. Guess your daughter must've woken up at all the commotion," Hayley lied with an apologetic smile.

"Mommy, Daddy, they shot my clown!" The girl complained to her parents and the father glared at the three questioningly.

"Run," Hayley said quietly to the brothers and they got her cue, running out of the house as fast as they could, driving off with screeching wheels in the minivan.

* * *

They had parked the van in the bushes a couple miles outside of town. Dean took off the license plates and Sam got the rest of their belongings out of it before he closed the trunk.

"You really think they saw our plates?" Sam asked as they started walking down the road.

"I don't wanna take the chance. It's just a matter of time till they find out Hayley's story was crap," Dean replied.

"Hey," Hayley protested and the brothers laughed.

"Besides, I hate this friggin' thing anyway," Dean said, gesturing back at the deserted van. "Well, one thing's for sure," he said after a short silence.

"What's that?" Sam asked.

"We're not dealing with a spirit. I mean, that rock salt hit something solid," Dean stated and Hayley hit his arm. "Ow! What was that for?"

"That's what I said this whole time," Hayley exclaimed upset.

"Well, fine. You were right, it's some type of monster. Question is, _what_ ," Dean grumbled.

"A person? Or maybe a creature that can make itself invisible?" Sam suggested.

"Yeah, and dresses up like a clown for kicks?" Dean questioned. "Did it say anything in Dad's journal?"

"Nope," Sam replied.

"Well, I'm gonna go ahead and do some research," Hayley said and threw Dean a look that told him she was leaving them alone on purpose. He rolled his eyes at her and watched her march up a few feet ahead of them and out of earshot before she pulled out her tablet and started researching.

Sam pulled out his phone, typing in a number.

"Who are you calling?" Dean asked, watching him.

"Maybe Ellen or that guy Ash'll know something," Sam replied before he looked at Dean with a smile. "Hey, you think, uh, you think Dad and Ellen ever had a thing?" He asked curiously.

"No way," Dean said, shaking his head determinedly.

"Then why didn't he tell us about her?" Sam asked. Dean knew it was the start of Sam's twenty questions game. It was fun when they played it in the backseat of the Impala as kids and Sam's questions revolved around the sky's different colors. Now his little brother's questions had become way harder to answer.

"I don't know, maybe they had some sort of falling out," Dean replied with a shrug.

"Yeah. You ever notice Dad had a falling out with just about everybody?" Sam said and Dean nodded quietly. "Well, don't get all maudlin on me, man," Sam mumbled and Dean stopped, spinning around to look at him.

"What do you mean?" Dean furrowed his brows.

"I mean this 'strong silent' thing of yours, it's crap," Sam said.

"Oh, god," Dean groaned, rolling his eyes back and started to walk again.

"I'm over it. This isn't just anyone we're talking about, this is Dad. I know how you felt about the man," Sam argued stubbornly.

Dean sighed deeply, getting frustrated. "You know what, back off, all right? Just because I'm not caring and sharing like you want me to. I mean even _little Ms. Sunshine_ seems to get that."

"No, no, no, that's not what this is about, Dean. I don't care how you deal with this. But you have to deal with it, man. And the only reason Hayley's not saying anything is because she's probably afraid you're gonna kick her out again." Sam told him.

"What, no…," Dean argued and Sam threw him a knowing look before he realized Sam was probably right about that.

"Listen, I'm your brother, all right? I just want to make sure you're okay," Sam said softly.

"Dude, I'm okay," Dean said frustrated, throwing his hands in the air. Hayley glanced back at the commotion and watched the brother's alone time coming to a quick end. "I'm okay, okay? I swear, the next person who asks me if I'm okay, I'm gonna start throwing punches. These are your issues, quit dumping them on me!" Dean snapped angrily at Sam.

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked, looking confused at him.

"I just think it's really interesting, this sudden obedience you have to Dad. It's like, oh, what would Dad want me to do? Sam, you spent your entire life slugging it out with that man. I mean, hell, you, you picked a fight with him the last time you ever saw him. And now that he's dead, now you want to make it right? Well, I'm sorry Sam, but you can't, it's too little, too late," Dean yelled harshly at him.

"Why are you saying this to me?" Sam asked hurt, the tears brimming in his eyes.

"Because I want you to be honest with yourself about this. I'm dealing with Dad's death! Are you?" Dean said, looking at him.

Sam paused and swallowed hard. He was clearly upset. "I'm going to call Ellen," he announced quietly, walking ahead of them.

He couldn't deny that Hayley's death stare wasn't well earned, but he was still angry himself and she was there. "Oh, what are you gonna bitch about now?"

"You're an asshole," she replied simply before she turned her back on him, joining Sam ahead.

"Speedy, c'mon. I didn't mean to-," he started but she was long gone and out of earshot.

* * *

Hayley and Sam walked quietly arm in arm next to each other down the road while Sam was on the phone with Ellen, talking about their case.

"Thanks a lot," Sam said, hanging up. "Rakshasa," he said, turning to Hayley.

"Gesundheit?" Hayley raised her brows, a puzzled expression on her face and Sam chuckled.

"What's that?" Dean asked curiously, running up behind them.

"Ellen's best guess," Sam replied casually. "It's a race of ancient Hindu creatures. They appear in human form, they feed on human flesh, they can make themselves invisible, and they cannot enter a home without first being invited," Sam informed them.

"So they dress up like clowns, and the children invite 'em in," Dean said their theory out loud.

"Yeah," Sam replied, nodding.

"Why don't they just munch on the kids?" Dean asked.

"No idea. Not enough meat on the bones, maybe?" Sam mused.

"Why would they do such a thing?" Hayley asked, making a disgusted face and the brothers sniggered.

"What else'd you find out?" Dean asked, turning to Sam.

"Well, apparently, Rakshasas live in squalor. They sleep on a bed of dead insects," Sam said and earned a disgusted look now from both of them.

"Nice," Dean commented sarcastically.

"Why does this story keep getting worse?" Hayley complained. "I hate bugs," she mumbled.

"So I take it you weren't there when we almost died, getting' eaten by bugs last year," Dean said with a chuckle.

"No, thank god, I avoided that death trap," she said with wide eyes and the boys laughed. "What else do you know about those Rakshasas?"

"Well for starters, they're the opposite of you," Sam said with a grin and she furrowed her brows curiously. "They have to feed a few times every twenty or thirty years. Slow metabolism, I guess."

"Well, that makes sense," Hayley said coolly.

"Yeah, the Carnival today, the Bunker Brothers in '81," Dean said.

"Right. Probably more before that," Sam finished their theory.

"Hey Sam, who do we know that worked both shows?" Dean said, looking up at Sam with a smirk.

"Cooper?" Sam guessed.

"Cooper," Dean confirmed.

"Guys, it's not Cooper!" Hayley threw in.

"You know, that picture of his father…that looked just like him," Sam said, remembering the photograph in Cooper's office.

"You think maybe it was him?" Dean asked.

"Well, who knows how old he is," Sam replied thoughtfully.

"Ellen say how to kill him?" Dean asked.

"Legend goes, a dagger made of pure brass," Sam said. It seemed like something impossible to find in a short amount of time.

"I think I know where to get one of those," Dean said with a smirk and Sam looked at him.

"Yeah, me too. From our suspect number one," Hayley chimed in, looking at both of them.

"Oh, c'mon Hayley. You have no evidence that the blind guy ever did anything, besides being a creepy old douche," Dean said and Hayley let out a frustrated breath. It was no use. She just had to do her best now to try and protect them.

"Well still, before we go stabbing things into Cooper, we're going to want to make damn sure it's him," Sam said.

"Oh, you're such a stickler for details, Sammy," Dean said sweetly and they smiled at each other. Hayley rolled her eyes at the two of them in annoyance. She knew it suddenly became a busy night for her. "All right, I'll round up the blade, you two go check if Cooper's got bedbugs," Dean ordered them and Sam was ready to leave.

"No. First of all, I'm not going anywhere near bedbugs. And secondly, I'm not gonna leave you alone snooping around murder clown's stuff," Hayley protested, crossing her arms.

The brothers sighed and shared a long look before Dean nodded and gestured for her to come with him and the three separated ways with their respective missions.

* * *

Dean's approach to securing a brass knife, of course, was to ask the blind man directly for it – much to Hayley's dismay.

"Well, I've got all kinds of knives. I don't know if I've got a brass one, though," the old man said as he led them into his tent.

"This is not a good idea. Please, let's just leave," Hayley whispered quietly behind him. Her voice sounded a little panicked, but Dean responded with a simple chuckle.

"Cute," he said and she frowned at him.

"Check the trunk," the blind man said, tapping his cane against a wooden trunk on the ground.

Dean knelt down to open it, turning his back to Papazian. But Hayley kept her eyes focused on the man and she could feel him staring at her before he seemingly turned his attention back to Dean, a smile playing on his face.

Dean froze for a moment when he found a red clown wig in the trunk. He turned around, standing up, a baffled look on his face.

"You?" Dean asked simply.

The blind man dropped his cane to the ground and took off his sunglasses, revealing normal clear eyes. He smirked at Dean and waved before his eyes turned cloudy again and his body disappearing slowly until only his eyes were left.

"See! I told you," Hayley exclaimed.

"Yeah, not a great time to gloat right now," Dean said as he tried to get the door to opene, the Rakshasa had closed.

A knife suddenly flew past him, almost grazing his ear. He spun around when another knife flew right at him, the sharp point aiming between his eyes.

Suddenly lightning rushed past him, catching the knife right in front of him. He looked up at the tip above his head and then back at the hand that was holding it with a grin. She winked at him before she caught another one and he got back to work on the door.

He finally got the door to open and Hayley pushed him quickly outside. They tumbled out the door, running immediately into Sam.

"Hey!" Sam greeted them while Dean and Hayley looked around them, both a little out of breath.

"Hey," Dean said, turning to Sam while Hayley still wasn't sure if the Rakshasa wasn't close by.

"So, Cooper thinks I'm a Peeping Tom, but it's not him," Sam stated.

"Yeah, so I gathered. Speedy was right, it's the blind guy. He's here somewhere," Dean said and Hayley threw him a winning look.

"Well, did you get the-?" Sam asked.

"The brass blades?" Dean finished for him. "No. No, it's just been one of those days."

"Great, so we're all getting killed by a psychotic, knife-throwing monster clown," Hayley huffed.

"No. I got an idea. Come on," Sam said and led them to the funhouse.

They walked slowly inside, carefully looking around. The red and green neon lights stung in their eyes and the mirrors just made it all the more confusing. Hayley walked behind the brothers, jumping around as a skeleton popped out of the ceiling. She pushed it out of the way when suddenly a door in front of her slammed shut, separating her from the boys.

"Guys!" She yelled and banged against the door.

"Hayley!" Dean yelled and the brothers spun around, looking at the door. It was stuck. "It won't open. Just keep calm. I'm sure there's another way out," he tried to soothe.

"Hayley, Hayley, find the maze, okay?" Sam told her. He had been in the funhouse before and knew its floor plan by now. "We're coming your way."

Sam ran ahead, Dean following him. They ran past a pipe organ and Sam stopped. It was blowing off steam, but he grabbed one of the pipes anyways, gasping at the burning pain. He let go of it, flinching from the heat before he pulled out a handkerchief from his pockets. He grabbed the pipe again with the fabric protecting his hands and tried to get it loose.

"Where is it?" Sam asked, looking at Dean as he was working away. His brother was looking around, keeping watch, but couldn't see anything.

"I don't know, I mean, shouldn't we see its clothes walking around?" Dean asked.

He abruptly turned away from Sam when he heard a sound coming from the other end of the room. The last thing he saw was a couple of knives come flying at him before Hayley grabbed him at super speed and they stumbled to the ground. Hayley cried out in pai, leaning to her side, revealing a knife stuck in her shoulder, the other two knives that she caught, still holding in her hands.

"Dammit!" Dean shouted as he looked closer at Hayley's wound. "Sam!"

Sam managed to pull off the pipe, using it as a weapon. It was made out of brass, at least he hoped it was, but it was still their best chance. "Dean, where is he?" Sam looked around frantically but couldn't see anything. The steam surrounding them like fog, wasn't helping either.

"I don't know!" Dean said, looking up at Sam. He noticed a vague figure in the fog. "Sam, behind you! Behind you!"

Sam didn't even turn around. Instead he drove the pipe right through the Rakshasa behind him. He spun around, the pipe still stuck in an invisible body as blood dripped from it. Suddenly it fell back, leaving only a pile of clothes and the pipe behind on the ground.

"I hate funhouses," Dean mumbled as he helped Hayley sit up. He pulled out the knife from her shoulder and she gasped in pain. He took off his jacket and put it over her wound to stop it from bleeding.

"Ouch, me too," Hayley agreed with a pained face. "This isn't the hunt I had in mind. All I wanted was a simple poltergeist."

"Huh, looks like someone's gonna need stitches," Dean pointed out with a smirk as he inspected her injury.

"What, no. I'm not gonna let you butcher me," Hayley said, a shocked look on her face. The brothers started laughing and she realized they were teasing her.

"I'm kidding. You'll heal," Dean said with a wink, helping her to her feet.

* * *

 **Nebraska**

Half a day later, they were back at the Roadhouse after a job well done. Ellen put down a couple of beers in front of them at the bar as celebration.

"You three did a hell of a job. Your Dad'd be proud of you boys," Ellen said and smiled kindly.

"Thanks," Sam replied, smiling back.

Hayley stretched next to him, her shoulder had completely healed on the car ride here and she was showing no signs of any pain. "I've had enough of hunting for the day. I'll go check on the geek stuff. See what Ash's magic computer is made of," she declared.

"Good idea," Dean agreed and then started chuckling. "I can't believe you were right about the guy," he said with a laugh, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Well, you should have trusted me," she said with a smile, shrugging before she joined Ash in his office.

Jo sat down across from him, flirtingly playing with her hair and smiling at him. She looked at Sam, who smiled back at her, waiting for him to get the cue to leave.

"Oh yeah, uhm, I've gotta…uh, uh, I've gotta go. Over there. Right now," he stuttered, getting up from his bar stool and awkwardly walking over to the pool table.

"So," Jo said, clearing her throat when Sam had left the two of them alone.

"So," Dean said with a smile. He took a sip from his beer, staring ahead of him. He didn't mind the flirting of a pretty girl like Jo, but his mind was still somewhere else.

"Am I gonna see you again?" She asked, looking up at him.

"Do you want to?" Dean asked, looking back at her.

"I wouldn't hate it," Jo replied with a shrug, trying to play it down and he snickered.

"Hmm," Dean said with a small smile. He noticed Ellen listening in to their conversation behind the bar. She seemed like the protective mother type and he respected that. "Can I be honest with you? See, normally I'd be hitting on you so fast, it'd make your head spin. But, uh, these days…I don't know." He took another chug from his bottle.

"Wrong place, wrong time?" She repeated his former statement with a knowing smile, pointing at her mother.

"Yeah," Dean said, nodding.

"It's okay, I get it," Jo replied understandingly.

The back door swung open and Ash walked out of it, Hayley not far behind him. He carried John's folder and a laptop with him. His computer looked messed up, different wires sticking out from it everywhere.

"Where you guys been? Been waitin' for ya," Ash said, placing the laptop on the bar.

"We were working a job, Ash. Clowns?" Sam reminded him.

"Clowns? What the f-?" Ash exclaimed stunned, shaking his head.

"You got something for us, Ash?" Dean interrupted him.

"Oh, he does," Hayley said with an excited grin.

"Did you find the demon?" Sam asked, sounding hopeful.

"It's nowhere around. At least, nowhere I can find. But if this fugly bastard raises his head, I'll know. I mean, I'm on it like Divine on dog dookie," Ash said and the brothers looked at him confused.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, frowning.

"We used the S.T.A.R. labs satellites as a security system," Hayley started to explain.

"Any of those signs or omens appear, anywhere in the world, my rig'll go off. Like a fire alarm," Ash finished.

"Right. And I'll know about it, too. The only thing left now, is to get the Colt back and kill this demon for good," Hayley said determinedly and Dean threw her a look. It unlike her to be pro-killing anything, even the demon.

"Do you mind…," Dean said, his hands reaching for the laptop. Ash gave him a death-stare, tapping his fingers impatiently on the bar and Hayley cleared her throat awkwardly in the back. Dean pulled his fingers back with a smile.

"What's up, man?" Ash said, inflating his chest and Sam chuckled.

"Ash, where did you learn to do all this?" Sam asked curiously.

"M.I.T. Before I got bounced for…fighting," Ash replied casually, scratching his head. Hayley threw him a look, the similarities between them started to scare her a little. If she became a hunter, would this be her future? An office in the back of a bar? She had already spent most of her time as an CSI at a bar, it didn't seem that far off.

"M.I.T.?" Sam asked, raising his brows surprised and the brothers immediately looked at Hayley, who just shrugged in response.

"It's a school in Boston," Ash said like he needed to explain.

"Okay," Dean said with a chuckle, finishing his beer I none big gulp. "Give us a call as soon as you know something?" He looked at Ash as he got up from his seat.

"Sì, sì, compadre," Ash replied, walking back to his office.

"God…he just became so much hotter," Hayley mumbled, looking after him, drooling.

"Okay, time to go," Dean said with a weirded-out look and dragged her away from the bar, heading for the door, ignoring Hayley's complains.

"Hey, listen if you three need a place to stay I've got a couple beds out back," Ellen offered kindly.

"Thanks, but no. There's something I gotta finish," Dean said, thinking about the Impala and Ellen nodded understandingly.

* * *

 **Sioux Falls, North Dakota**

The hunt had been successful and for brief moment, it had seemed the team was back on track. But as soon as they entered Bobby's junkyard, Dean disappeared under the Impala again.

Hayley disappeared back inside the house. She had started to organize Bobby's books by alphabet and monster genre. He had threatened her several times to kick her out if she didn't stop organizing his house, but deep down she knew he was thankful for the help.

Sam was pacing while Dean worked on his car. He waited patiently until Dean had finished and rolled out from underneath it, coming to his feet.

"You were right," Sam said quietly, staring at him.

"About what?" Dean asked, looking up at him.

"About me and Dad. I'm sorry that the last time I was with him I tried to pick a fight. I'm sorry that I spent most of my life angry at him. I mean, for all I know he died thinking that I hate him. So you're right. What I'm doing right now, it's too little. It's too late," Sam said, fighting back tears and his lips started trembling. "I miss him, man. And I feel guilty as hell. And I'm not all right. Not at all." The tears now clearly visibly in his brown eyes. "But neither are you. That much I know," Sam said, looking at him as Dean kept staring at his feet silently

"I'll let you get back to work," Sam said, disappearing into the house.

Dean stood there still for a moment, frozen. He picked up a crowbar and started smashing it into the windows of an old car nearby before he started hitting the Impala's trunk. Each smash echoing loudly through the air. When he was done, he threw the crowbar to the side, trying to hold back the tears. He had been trying for so long to hold it all together and now his emotions seemed to get the better of him.

He glanced up, noticing a figure on the stairs. She looked worried, so she had probably seen most of his outburst. She broke his gaze for a moment, thinking about her next steps, before she decided to walk carefully closer to him.

She silently grabbed a pincer from the toolbox and started working on the car.

"What are you doing?" Dean asked, grabbing her hand and stopping her from fumbling with his baby.

"Fixing it. Let me handle the wiring," she replied with a shrug, but he still held on to her wrist and she finally looked up at him. He looked far from alright and she knew then she had to try and change that. "We need to talk," she said quietly, looking down. He let go of her hand, wrinkling his forehead.

"There's nothing to talk about," Dean replied stubbornly, thinking she was referring to his outburst.

"Yes, there is," she argued and looked back up at him. "Dean…I know," Hayley said softly.

His features ran through different emotions in a few seconds before he fully understood what she meant. "How?" Was the only thing he was able to spit out while he tried to piece together the puzzle.

"Because your Dad told me before he told you," she replied.

"When?"

"When I first joined you. Lawrence, Kansas," Hayley replied. She was scared, afraid to lose them, but she needed to tell them the truth.

"Dammit Hayley! Why didn't you tell me?" He snapped at her. But she had expected some degree of anger coming from him.

"Look, you know your Dad better than anybody. You know he's stubborn. He wanted to protect his sons. I had a very clear order not to say anything. No to you and especially not to Sam," Hayley explained. "Besides, you don't even know he's right about this. I didn't see any evidence of it yet, so it wasn't really relevant anyways."

"Sam having psychic abilities didn't tip you off?" He asked, raising a brow.

"Having abilities doesn't make you evil. I thought you learnt that by now," Hayley replied, looking at him sternly.

"Yeah, but if Dad's right, he got them from the demon," Dean said quietly.

"Many people have stood in the face of evil before and defied it. I believe in Sam…so should you," she said.

"What exactly did my Dad order you to do?" Dean suddenly asked, remembering his father's character.

She swallowed and let out a deep breath before she answered. "He told me to protect you two, look out for anything out of the ordinary and most importantly, keep an eye on Sam."

"And worst case scenario?" Dean asked, knowing there was more.

"Stop Sam and protect you," she replied almost inaudibly, looking down, her voice breaking off. He knew his father probably never used the word _stop_ , but he also knew Hayley wasn't capable of anything else.

"I wanted to tell you for so long. I'm sorry," she said, sobbing, tears in her eyes.

He took her in his arms, trying to calm her down a bit. "It's okay."

She pulled away surprised, looking shocked at him. "You're not mad?"

"It's barely your fault. I mean you could have told me sooner, but let's be honest, Dad probably would've just shot you," Dean said, chuckling a little and she dried her tears, although still a little suspicious. "Besides, I think Dad asked the wrong person for this job." He looked up at her and she smiled a little again. "So what do you think we should do? Tell him?" He asked after a pause. It felt liberating to talk to at least one person about all of this.

"No. Not yet anyways. Just give him some time and we'll go from there," Hayley suggested and Dean nodded in agreement. They needed to do more research on this before they approached Sam with it. He knew his little brother would take the news the hardest.

"What do we do now?" He asked, looking at her.

She picked up the pincer again, opening up the hood of the Impala. "We fix what's broken."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Secret's out, guys! (At least one of them ha!)

Thanks for patiently waiting for chapter two. It's definitely by far the longest I have written yet, but I just couldn't stop writing and really loved doing the dialogues in this one. There was a lot of space for funny and emotional stuff and I hope you enjoyed that as well :)

Next up is _Bloodlust_ and I already know it's gonna be tons of fun to write, followed by a Central City chapter. I feel like they never spent enough time there. Also let me know if you want to see Iris at a hunt at one point :D

Thank you guys so much for your feedback. It means the world to me hearing from all of you. I really do appreciate it and am really happy that you seem to like it so far :)

To Dean/Hayley: I pretty much have their storyline completely planned. I know already what happens in what chapter. I've had this story in my head for a while and I think I like where it's gonna go in the future. You're really close with your suggestions and there's definitely going to be a lot more tension between them around Dean's one year deal. And Dean's deal is not the only problem as Hayley is known to be a runner (there's a story behind that too, of course). I like that they start out as friends and built some trust. Plus, you can already see they like each other, but are basically still unaware of it. I'm pretty sure Sam's already expecting it :D Mike, on the other hand…I don't see them working either. But he does play an important role in the overall story and in Hayley's development. (And I'm actually really excited about his storyline!) ;)

To Oliver: Involving Constantine is perfect! I loved him on Arrow. Can't believe I forgot about him. Thank you so much! In all honesty, I never watched the show. I found out about it when I read news of it getting cancelled and I didn't want to get my heart broken. But I'm stoked to check it out now and plan that story accordingly. It's probably not gonna be in the first five stories, but I'll definitely wanna do it! I also wanted to involve the League of Assassins a bit in later seasons. I think the league's darkness would fit in nicely with Supernatural and I have a storyline that would work perfectly. I think it'd be useful to make Hayley a better hunter/fighter and to step up her game a bit in later seasons. Also dark Hayley might be interesting…

And lastly to Hayley: I love Barry so much that I was scared too to ruin it somehow. But I really like how it turned out so far and all of their dynamic. I'm using a lot of the Flash's storyline for now, but I know that will change and I made sure Hayley is still a little different from Barry in some ways. Both SPN and Flash have a similar origin story (something yellow killed both their moms was something I always thought was a funny coincidence) and I think that's why it works well with each other. Sometimes it's a little hard to keep Hayley's powers and abilities in check in weekly monster chapters, but I try my best not to make any character lesser or more than they really are. Most importantly, I thought it was nice to involve two sisters in the supernatural universe with a different dynamic than the brothers. I love Iris and Hayley and hold those two very dear to my heart. And on the other hand, the boys get to have a home in Central City as well. Difference to the show is, I can actually make them happy in here (not that it won't be a long hard road to get there).

I hope the next chapter is up real soon. I know it's a little slow but I'm currently working full-time over the summer, so I literally have no life anymore. So mostly write to relax a little now. But I'm back to student life and less work in October and after those first exams, I know I have plenty of time to write, yay!

And again, thank you so much for reviewing, favoring and following this story so far! Happy weekend & read you soon!


	3. Bloodlust

_I'm finished making sense_  
 _Done pleading ignorance_  
 _That whole defense_

 _Spinning infinity, boy_  
 _The wheel is spinning me_  
 _It's never-ending, never-ending_  
 _Same old story_

 _What if I say I'm not like the others?_  
 _What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?_  
 _You're the pretender_  
 _What if I say I will never surrender?_

 _I'm the voice inside your head_  
 _You refuse to hear_  
 _I'm the face that you have to face_  
 _Mirrored in your stare_  
 _I'm what's left, I'm what's right_  
 _I'm the enemy_  
 _I'm the hand that will take you down_  
 _Bring you to your knees_

 _So who are you?_

 _The Pretender_ by **Foo Fighters**

* * *

 **3\. Bloodlust (SPN 2.03)**

It had taken Dean two weeks to repair the Impala and bring her back to her old glory. And it had been well worth the wait. Truth be told, she looked even more beautiful than before, the black coating shimmering it the bright sun as they drove down a small highway in the middle of nowhere. The three of them were officially back in business.

Hayley was sprawled out in the backseat like usual, glasses on and book in hand, while Sam was reading in the front seat as well, sometimes glancing over curiously to his older brother, who seemed to be in a much better mood these days.

"Whoo! Listen to her purr! Have you ever heard anything so sweet?" Dean said as he drummed along to AC/DC's _Back in Black_ on the steering wheel, a satisfied smile on his face. Sam and Hayley chuckled, shaking their heads at his enthusiasm. It was nice to see him so carefree for once.

"You know, if you two wanna get a room, just let me know, Dean," Sam teased him.

"Oh, don't listen to him, baby. He doesn't understand us," Dean said to the car, like he was actually talking to a person, earning him two more laughs.

"You know that I can go way faster than that car," Hayley said with a smirk, leaning forward.

"Well, guess you have to show me sometime, Speedy," Dean said with a chuckle and grinned back at her. She giggled and let herself fall back into her seat.

"Ew, can you two not flirt while I'm in the car?" Sam complained, making a disgusted face at them.

"Sure, princess," Hayley replied with a grin and Sam frowned.

"You're a bad influence on her," Sam said, turning to Dean, who laughed in response. "You're in a good mood," he pointed out.

"Why shouldn't I be?" Dean asked casually, even though he knew exactly what his little brother meant.

"No reason," Sam replied, shrugging.

"Got my car, got a case, things are looking up," Dean said happily.

"Wow. Give you a couple of severed heads and a pile of dead cows and you're Mister Sunshine," Sam joked, shaking his head.

"Hey, navigation girl," Dean said with a smile, glancing back to Hayley and she looked up from her book again. "How far to Red Lodge?"

"321 miles. You have approximately another five hours and sixteen minutes," Hayley replied.

"Good," he said with a smile, flooring the gas.

* * *

 **Red Lodge, Montana**

Their first stop in Red Lodge was the Sheriff's office. Sam and Dean posed as reporters this time while Hayley went ahead to the morgue to check on the victims.

They were led to a small office in the police station. The sheriff was a chubby, older guy with a gigantic mustache. "The murder investigation is ongoing, and that's all I can share with the press at this time," the sheriff said, sitting at his desk, the brothers across from him.

"Sure, sure, we understand that, but just for the record, you found the first, uh, head last week, correct?" Sam asked and the sheriff nodded. "Okay, and the other, a uh, Christina Flanigan…"

"That was two days ago. Is there…" The sheriff then was interrupted by his secretary knocking on the door, pointing to her watch. "Oh. Sorry boys, time's up, we're done here."

"One last question," Sam threw in quickly before the sheriff got up from his seat.

"Yeah, what about the cattle?" Dean asked.

"Excuse me?" The sheriff raised an eyebrow at him.

"You know, the cows found dead, split open, drained…over a dozen cases," Dean said, trying to jog his memory.

"What about them?" The sheriff asked annoyed.

"So you don't think there's a connection?" Sam questioned.

"Connection…with…?" The sheriff asked, not understanding a word they were saying.

"First cattle mutilations, now two murders? Kinda sounds like ritual stuff," Sam pointed out.

"You know, like satanic cult ritual stuff?" Dean chimed in and the sheriff laughed.

"You…you're not kidding," the sheriff realized when the boys didn't join in, sticking to their serious faces.

"No," Dean replied, a small smile on his face and he shook his head lightly.

"Those cows aren't being mutilated. You wanna know how I know?" The sheriff asked, irritated.

"How?" Sam asked honestly.

"Because there's no such thing as cattle mutilation. Cow drops, leave it in the sun, within forty eight hours the bloat'll split it open so clean it's just about surgical. The bodily fluids fall down into the ground and get soaked up because that's what _gravity_ does. But, hey, it could be Satan. What newspaper did you say you work for?" He asked the two, furrowing his brows.

"World Weekly News…," Dean replied, unsure of himself.

"Weekly World News," Sam corrected him.

"World…," Dean started again, looking at Sam for confirmation.

"Weekly World," Sam hissed, getting tense as the sheriff kept throwing them dubious looks.

"Weekly…I'm new," Dean said apologetically, smiling at the man.

"Get out of my office," the sheriff ordered the two angrily.

* * *

The brothers joined Hayley at the morgue in the hospital next. They were still wearing their reporter outfits from before, a shirt and a tie, and threw some white lab coats over it.

They found Hayley in the same white lab coat, wearing latex gloves and her glasses as a hospital intern stood idly by, admiring her, as she fumbled around with a dead body.

"Who are you?" The intern asked as he spotted them.

Hayley looked up from the body in front of her and at the brothers. "Oh, hey!" She greeted them with a happy smile. "Uh, this is Dr. Young and Dr. Rose. Also Harvard Med School," Hayley introduced them to the intern.

"It's very nice to meet you both," the intern said excitedly, shaking their hands and the boys shared an amused look.

"Uh, Jeff, honey, would you mind getting us some coffee? It's gonna be a long night," she said with a wink.

"Yes, absolutely! Anything else, Dr. Slade?" The intern asked enthusiastically.

"You know, maybe some bagels while you're at it," Hayley added shamelessly.

"Sure. I'll be back soon," Jeff replied.

"Thank you, sweety. I'm sure they're gonna love you at Harvard," Hayley said and the intern nodded thrilled before he rushed out the door.

"What?" She asked innocently when she noticed the brothers throwing her a look, grinning all the way.

"I see you found a new victim to enslave," Dean teased her and she giggled guiltily.

"Well…can you blame me? He was such an easy target," she argued defensively and the brothers chuckled. "He got really excited when I told him I came from Harvard."

"I'm sure he did, Dr. _Slade_ ," Dean said with a chuckle, recognizing the AC/DC band member names she gave them.

"Well, it's your fault. You were the one playing AC/DC for the last five hours," she argued with a smile.

"Did you find anything?" Sam asked, walking over to the body.

"No, not yet. Still have to check the heads though," she replied. "You said those Satanists in Florida, marked their victims, right?"

"Yeah, reversed pentacle on the forehead," Sam said.

"Yeah. So much fucked up crap happens in Florida," Dean agreed, shaking his head.

She handed the boys some latex gloves before she got a little white box out of the fridge and placed it in front of them on the metal table.

"All right, open it," Dean said to Sam.

"You open it," Sam said, disgusted by the thought.

"Wuss," Dean said, flipping off the lid of the box. The boys grimaced at the head of a woman inside and Hayley watched them amused.

"Well, no pentagram," Dean stated.

"Wow. Poor girl," Sam commented.

"Maybe we should, uh, you know, look in her mouth, see if those wackos stuffed anything down her throat. You know, kinda like the moth in _Silence of the Lambs_ ," Dean suggested with a grin.

"Yeah, here, go ahead," Sam said, pushing the box closer to Dean.

"No, you go ahead," Dean said, pushing the box back to Sam.

"What?" Sam asked with a raised brow.

"Put the lotion in the basket," Dean quoted _Silence of the Lambs_ with a happy grin.

"Right, yeah, I'm the wuss, huh?" Sam argued.

"Oh my god, you're both wusses. Get out of the way, let the professional handle it," Hayley said, pushing them to the side. "God knows I've stuck my hands into dead bodies before...wow, that came out wrong," she realized and the boys laughed.

"Dean, get me a bucket?" Sam said as Hayley stuck her fingers into the woman's mouth.

"What, why?" Dean asked, looking at him.

"I'm going to puke," Sam replied, cringing, and Dean rolled his eyes.

"Huh, that's weird," Hayley mumbled.

"You find anything?" Dean asked, looking more closely at the head.

"Yeah, I think so. Remember the vampire head you gave me?" She said and he nodded. "Well, when I did my autopsy, it had small dents on the gums," she explained as she pulled the woman's upper lip up and poked the gums slowly with her finger. "And when you put pressure on one of those dents…"

"That's a fang. Retractable set of vampire fangs. You gotta be kidding me," Dean finished as he looked at the little tooth descending form the little hole in the woman's gums.

"Well, this changes things," Sam said and Dean threw him a look.

"Ya think?"

* * *

Vampires loved the nightlife, so they decided to check out the local bars next. It was a small town and the only joint where vampires actually would dare to show up, was at the edge of town.

"How's it going?" Dean said to the bartender as they entered, walking straight up to him.

"Living the dream. What can I get for you?" The bartender asked. He was a tall and muscular guy, wearing a short beard.

"Three beers, please," Dean replied.

"So, we're looking for some people," Sam said as the bartender placed three bottles in front of them.

"Sure. Hard to be lonely. Try the girl next to ya," the bartender joked, gesturing to Hayley and she glared at the man.

"Yeah. But um, that's not what I meant," Sam said, clearing his throat. He pulled out a $50 bill and slapped it on the bar. The bartender stared at it for a moment before he took it. "Right. So these, these people, they would have moved here about six months ago, probably pretty rowdy, like to drink…," Sam continued.

"Yeah, real night owls, you know? Sleep all day, party all night," Dean added.

"Barker farm got leased out a couple months ago. Real winners. They've been in here a lot – drinkers, noisy…I've had to 86 them once or twice," the bartender replied.

"Thanks," Hayley said and the three left their unfinished beers behind and walked back to the car.

Before they left the bar, Hayley stopped them, grabbing their arms. "Guys," she said, simply gesturing to an empty table nearby. A cigarette was still burning in the ashtray with a half-finished beer next to it.

Dean smiled knowingly at her.

* * *

The Impala was parked right outside, but instead of going there, they took another way through a dark alley. After a few turns, they hid behind a corner and waited.

The guy that had sat in the bar before came sneaking around the corner. It was odd that he had just disappeared when the three had entered the bar and started asking questions.

The boys jumped the man and pinned him to the wall with ease, Dean raising his knife to the man's throat.

"Smile," Dean told him.

"What?" The man asked confused. He was a middle-aged black guy and he looked pissed to say the least.

"Show us those pearly whites," Dean ordered him with a smile.

"Oh, for the love of-," the guy exclaimed. "You want to stick that thing someplace else? I'm not a vampire." The three shared a confused look with each other. If he wasn't a vampire, how did he know about them? "Yeah, that's right. I heard you guys in there," he explained knowingly.

"What do you know about vampires?" Sam asked suspiciously.

"How to kill them," he replied simply before turning back to Dean. "Now seriously, bro. That knife's making me itch," the guy warned him. Dean tilted his head, trying to get a closer look at the man. He started to struggle against them and Sam threw him harder against the wall.

"Whoa. Easy there, Chachi," the guy said, looking at Sam. The boys let him loose a little and he raised his right hand to his upper lip, pulling it up. Hayley took a step closer to look at the guy's gums, but couldn't find any dents. The brothers looked at her expectantly and she gave them a nod.

"See? Fangless. Happy?" The guy asked and they let go of him for good. "Now. Who the hell are you?"

* * *

The guy's name was Gordon Walker and apparently he was a fellow hunter. He led the three to a red muscle car and showed them his arsenal, tucked away in a secret compartment. He had several guns, knives and various other weapons that Dean admired.

"Sam and Dean Winchester. I can't believe it. You know I met your old man once?" Gordon said excitedly, stowing away his arsenal again. "Hell of a guy. Great hunter. I heard he passed. I'm sorry. It's big shoes. But from what I hear you guys fill 'em. Great trackers, good in a tight spot," he continued.

"You seem to know a lot about our family," Dean said, sternly looking at the man.

"Word travels fast. You know how hunters talk," Gordon said and the three raised their brows.

"No, we don't, actually," Dean replied. His father never told him about this apparent community of hunters.

"I guess there's a lot your Dad never told you, huh?" Gordon said, hitting a nerve and Dean threw him a look.

"So, uhm, so those two vampires, they were yours, huh?" Sam asked, bringing them back to topic.

"Yep. Been here two weeks," Gordon confirmed.

"Did you check out that Barker farm?" Dean asked him and he nodded.

"It's a bust. Just a bunch of hippie freaks. Though they could kill you with that patchouli smell alone," Gordon replied with a laugh.

"Where's the nest, then?" Dean asked curiously.

"I got this one covered. Look, don't get me wrong. It's a real pleasure meetin' you fellas. But I've been on this thing over a year. I killed a fang back in Austin, tracked the nest all the way up here. I'll finish it," Gordon told them.

"We could help," Dean offered.

"Thanks, but uh, I'm kind of a go-it-alone type of guy," Gordon replied dismissively.

"Come on, man, I've been itching for a hunt," Dean said with a charming smile and Sam and Hayley threw him a worried look. Two weeks ago, they had to force him into a hunt and now he seemed perfectly happy jumping into one.

"Sorry. But hey, I hear there's a Chupacabra two states over. You go ahead and knock yourselves out," Gordon told them, getting into his car. "It was real good meeting you, though. I'll buy you a drink on the flip side," he said before he drove off.

"What's a Chupacabra?" Hayley asked confused and the brothers looked at her.

"You don't wanna know," they replied simultaneously, shaking their heads.

* * *

Instead of hunting the Chupacabra like Gordon had suggested, Dean, of course, couldn't let it go. He convinced Sam and Hayley to follow Gordon for a little while in case he needed help after all.

The three followed Gordon to a local lumber mill when they suddenly heard the sounds of an electric saw. They ran towards the noise until they found Gordon struggling with a vampire.

The vampire was about to decapitate Gordon, pinning him down on the table and grabbing the saw. Hayley raced over and pulled Gordon back by his feet just in time before the sharp blade of the saw had slit his throat.

Sam and Dean ran over to them, attacking the vampire. The vamp threw Sam to the floor and he crashed against some boxes.

Dean then punched the creature in the face. It lost its balance for a second and Dean grabbed it, pinning it down to the table, like the thing had done to Gordon before. Dean grabbed the electric saw, lowering it to the vampire's throat and decapitated it just like that. The blood splattered in all directions, spraying his entire face and staining his clothes. But he didn't even seem to remotely care about that.

Sam and Hayley stared at him shocked, while Gordon started to laugh appreciatively. "So uh, I guess I gotta buy you that drink."

* * *

The four of them went back to the local bar as Dean and Gordon wanted to celebrate their cruel victory. They sat down at a table in the middle of the room and a pretty waitress brought them their drinks – three whiskeys and a coke for Sam. Dean reached for his wallet to pay when Gordon stopped him.

"No, no, I got it," he told Dean with a hand motion.

"Come on," Dean argued.

"I insist," Gordon said, smiling and handed a few bills to the waitress. "Thank you, sweetie." He raised his glass. "Another one bites the dust."

"That's right," Dean agreed, raising his glass as well and they drank a toast. Hayley downed her whiskey at that and placed the empty glass upside down in front of her while Sam leaned back in his chair, arms stubbornly folded across his chest.

"Dean," Gordon said and laughed. "You gave that big-ass fang one hell of a haircut, my friend."

"Thank you," Dean replied with a proud smile, taking the compliment.

"That was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful," Gordon commented like he had seen a painting by Monet. Hayley and Sam made rather disgusted faces at them.

"Yep," Dean agreed satisfied before he noticed Sam's grimace. "You all right, Sammy?"

"I'm fine," Sam replied bitterly.

"Well, lighten up a little, Sammy," Gordon teased him and Sam gave him the death-stare.

"He's the only one who gets to call me that," Sam snapped, glaring.

"Okay. No offense meant. Just celebrating a little. Job well done," Gordon said swiftly.

"Right. Well, decapitations aren't my idea of a good time, I guess," Sam replied sarcastically.

"Oh, c'mon, man, it's not like it was human. You've gotta have a little more fun with your job," Gordon argued and Hayley rolled her eyes. Apparently Gordon seemed to be another one of those hunters that wet their pants when they encountered something more powerful than them.

"See? That's what I've been trying to tell him. You could learn a thing or two from this guy," Dean said to Sam with a laugh.

"Yeah, I bet I could," Sam muttered cynically. "Look, I'm not gonna bring you guys down. I'm just gonna go back to the motel," he said and Hayley threw him a concerned look. He smiled softly at her, letting her know it was really okay. He knew she would want to stay to keep a watchful eye on them.

"You sure?" Dean asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah," Sam said with a nod as he got up from his chair.

"Sammy?" Dean said and Sam turned around, looking at his brother. "Remind me to beat that buzzkill out of you later, all right?" He threw Sam the car keys and he caught them before he left the bar.

"Something I said?" Gordon asked, looking at Dean.

"Nah, nah, he just gets that way sometimes. Tell you what. Match you quarters for the next round," Dean suggested with a smile.

* * *

"...so, pick up this crossbow. And I hit that ugly sucker with a silver-tipped arrow right in his heart. Sammy's waiting in the car, and uh, me and my Dad take the thing into the woods, burn it to a crisp," Dean told Gordon, a smile on his face.

They were five drinks into the evening and it felt like the hundredth hunting story Hayley had listened to tonight. Each new one beating the one before in terms of brutality. At least her card-house-building skills were getting more practice.

"I'm sitting there and looking into the fire, and I'm thinking to myself, I'm sixteen years old. Most kids my age are worried about pimples, prom dates. I'm seeing things that they'll never even know. Never even dream of. So right then, I just sort of-," Dean said, looking for the right words that described this feeling.

"Embraced the life?" Gordon offered with a knowing smile.

"Yeah," Dean said, nodding and Hayley threw him a worried look before she blew away the little card house she had just built in front of her with a frustrated sigh. Dean threw her a questioning look, but she just shrugged in response.

"Hayley, what about you? What did you do with sixteen?" Gordon asked her and she sat up straight, still playing absentmindedly with a card in her hand.

"Oh, me? I probably was high in my dorm room, hacking into the school's grading system for money," she replied jokingly and Gordon chuckled. Dean shook his head at her with a grin.

"College at sixteen, huh? What school?" He asked curiously.

"M.I.T.," Hayley replied simply.

"Like Ash, right? You know a lot of good and smart hunters come from that school, did you know that?" Gordon said with a smile.

"No, I didn't know that. Guess I shouldn't be surprised," she muttered under her breath. "Welp, this seems like my cue to get drunk at the bar. Excuse me, gentlemen," Hayley told them and got up from her chair, wandering over to the bar.

"Women, huh? Can't live with them, can't live without them, right?" Gordon joked with a smirk.

"Yeah, I guess," Dean agreed with a chuckle, taking another sip from his drink.

"I'd keep an eye on her if I were you. Girl with a pretty face like that, would be a waste to see it ripped to shreds by some monster. Girlfriends usually don't last very long in this life, my friend," Gordon said.

"She's not really a girlfriend. More like a, uh, hunter in training," Dean clarified.

"Huh, I see," Gordon said, glancing over to her at the bar.

Hayley finished another glass of whiskey and put the empty glass down in front of her. Her phone rang and she picked up when she saw it was Sam. "Hey, what's up? Enjoying your night of freedom?"

" _Hey, yeah. I'm sorry for leaving you there. That bad, huh?_ " Sam said worriedly.

"Nah, it's all right. Nothing I and tons of whiskey couldn't handle," Hayley joked as she took another sip, and Sam chuckled on the other end.

" _So I talked to Ellen. Apparently Gordon is a hell of a hunter_ ," Sam said.

"Well, we already knew _that_ ," Hayley replied.

" _Yeah, well she also said he's dangerous and we should stay far away from this guy_ ," Sam said, catching her attention.

"Okay, well, thanks Sam. I keep an eye on them," Hayley said, glancing back to Dean. He and Gordon were laughing about something – probably another story of how they slashed someone's throat.

" _Need any help?_ " Sam asked worriedly.

"No, I'm fine. I'm gonna try and get him to leave. See you soon at the motel, alright?" Hayley said calmly. Sam gave his okay and she hung up.

"Hey, barkeep. What's your name?" She asked and the bartender looked at her.

"Eli," he replied.

"Well, that's a nice name," Hayley said with a charming smile.

"Thank you," he replied, smiling back patiently.

"Hey Eli, if I give you a hundred bucks, will you promise me to keep this glass full for the rest of the night?" She asked him and he chuckled.

"Sure. Rough night?" He asked.

"You could say that," Hayley said as he poured her another drink.

"Your friends seem to be having a good time," Eli said, gesturing back to Dean and Gordon.

"They're not my friends. At least, not all of 'em," Hayley replied, rolling her eyes back.

"You guys had a, uh, fight?" He asked.

"Let's just say some of us don't see eye to eye with some things," she replied and took another sip from her glass.

"Well, I guess you can't change some people's minds," Eli replied, giving out wise bartender advice. "Where's the third one?"

"Oh, he went back to our motel. Guess he couldn't stand it anymore either," Hayley replied and emptied her drink again.

* * *

"So, uh, how'd you get started?" Dean asked, clearing his throat a little. He didn't know if Gordon saw Hayley using her powers before, but something told him, the hunter wouldn't appreciate getting his ass saved by a meta-human.

"First time I saw a vampire I was barely eighteen. Home alone with my sister," Gordon started to tell his life story. "I hear the window break in her room. I grab my Dad's gun, run in, try to get it off her. Too late. So I shoot the damn thing. Which of course is about as useful as snapping it with a rubber band," he said and chuckled. "It rushes me, picks me up, flings me across the room, knocks me out cold. When I wake up, the vampire's gone, my sister's gone."

"And then?" Dean asked curiously.

"Then…try explaining that one to your family," Gordon replied and Dean nodded understandingly. "So I left home. And then bummed around looking for information. How you track 'em, how you kill 'em. And I found that fang – it was my first kill," Gordon said, a proud smile on his face.

"Sorry about your sister," Dean said.

"Yeah. She was beautiful. I can still see her, you know? The way she was. But hey, that was a long time ago. I mean, your Dad. It's gotta be rough," Gordon said.

"Yeah. Yeah, you know. He was just one of those guys. Took some terrible beatings, just kept coming. So you're always thinking to yourself, he's indestructible. He'll always be around, nothing can kill my Dad. Then just like that," Dean said, snapping his fingers. "He's gone. I can't talk about this to Sammy. You know, I gotta keep my game face on," Dean explained, clearing his throat. "But, uh, the truth is, I'm not handling it very well. Feel like I have this-"

"Hole inside you?" Gordon finished for him. "And it just gets bigger and bigger and darker and darker?" Dean nodded. "Good. You can use it. Keeps you hungry. Trust me. There's plenty out there needs killing, and this'll help you do it. Dean, it's not a crime to need your job," Gordon said.

Hayley cleared her throat behind them and they turned around to look at her. Who knows how long she had been standing there and what she'd heard, but she didn't look amused – that much Dean could tell from her facial expression.

"This place is a bust. Bartender just rejected me. Can we go?" Hayley asked, raising her eyebrow at him.

"Well, come on, Hayley. The night is still young. Sit down and have another drink with us," Gordon said with a smile, gesturing at a chair.

Hayley popped down on the chair with a deep sigh, grabbing Dean's drink and emptied it in front of him. Dean looked at her concerned, but Gordon smiled pleased at her.

"That's more like it," he commented happily. "Know why I love this life?" He asked, turning to Dean again.

"Hm?" Dean asked.

"It's all black and white. There's no maybe. You find the bad thing, kill it. See, most people spend their lives in shades of gray. Is this right? Is that wrong? Not us," Gordon said and Hayley threw him a look. She probably should avoid using her powers in front of him in the future.

"Really?" Hayley asked, staring at Dean expectantly. "Do you share that sentiment, Dean?"

He avoided her eyes and instead focused on Gordon. "Well, uh, not sure Sammy would agree with you, but uh…," Dean stuttered with an awkward smile.

"Doesn't seem like you and Sam are much like us," Gordon pointed out, looking at Hayley.

"No, no. I guess not. See, Sam and I are actually decent humans," Hayley retorted, putting emphasis on the last word, and Dean stared at her shocked.

"Hey, again…no offense. I'm not saying you're wrong. Just different," Gordon clarified, not that it made anything better. "But you and me?" He continued, looking at Dean. "We were born to do this. It's in our blood."

Hayley leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms defiantly, and stared at Dean. He didn't say anything in response. He didn't know what to say and whatever he had to say, Hayley and Sam wouldn't like it. Maybe Gordon was right and he _was_ like him.

* * *

Of course, they couldn't get rid of Gordon by the time they had reached their motel room. Dean had decided to invite him in for another round of drinks. The two immediately sat down at the table, pulling out a map and figuring out a strategy.

Hayley had stayed a little behind them, not bearing any more of their crap for the night. When she entered the room, she immediately noticed someone was missing.

"Where's Sam?" Hayley asked and the two looked at her.

"Car's parked outside. Probably went for a walk. Seems like the take-a-walk type," Gordon said condescendingly.

"Yeah, he is," Dean agreed and Hayley threw him a stern look.

"No, he said he'd be here when I talked to him on the phone," Hayley said upset, looking outside the window. _Maybe he did take a walk?_

"When did you guys talk on the phone?" Dean asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Earlier, at the bar," Hayley answered absentmindedly. "I'm gonna look for him outside," she announced and stormed out the door.

"Okay, so, this is the best pattern I can establish. It's sketchy at best," Gordon said, ignoring all the drama, and pointed at the map.

"Looks like it's all coming from this side of town. Which means the nest would be around here someplace, right?" Dean said and pointed at an area outside of town.

"Yep, that's what I'm thinking. Problem is, there's thirty-five, forty farms out there. I've searched about half of them already, but nothing yet. They're covering their tracks real good," Gordon said.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to search the other half," Dean said simply, almost looking forward to it.

The door flung open again and Sam stormed in.

"Where you been?" Dean asked, looking up at him. "Where's Hayley?"

"Outside. Can we talk to you alone?" Sam said, coming straight to the point. Dean sighed, rolling his eyes slightly before he turned to Gordon.

"You mind chillin' out for a couple minutes?" Dean asked him.

"No, you two go ahead. I'll wait here," Gordon said with a smile.

* * *

Hayley was waiting outside in the parking lot for them. When they came walking out the motel room, they were already into an argument.

"Dean, maybe we've got to rethink this hunt," Sam told him.

"What are you talking about? Where were you?" Dean asked, stopping right next to her, but still looking at Sam.

"He was in the nest. Listen…," Hayley started but Dean interrupted her.

"What? You found it?" Dean asked Sam.

"They found me, man," Sam replied.

"How'd you get out? How many'd you kill?" Dean asked eagerly.

"None," Sam replied, throwing his hands up a little frustrated.

"Well Sam, they didn't just let you go," Dean countered.

"That's _exactly_ what they did," Sam said with a serious face.

"All right, well, where is it?" Dean asked.

"I was blindfolded, I don't know," Sam replied.

"Well, you've got to know something," Dean pushed.

"We went over that bridge outside of town," Sam confessed.

"But Dean, listen. Maybe we shouldn't go after them," Hayley threw in, earning her a confused look.

"Why not?" Dean asked her stunned.

"I don't think they're like other vampires. I don't think they're killing people," Sam responded.

"You two are joking," Dean scoffed, but they kept their serious expressions. "Then how do they stay alive? Or undead, or whatever the hell they are," Dean questioned.

"The cattle mutilations," Hayley answered.

"They said they live off of animal blood," Sam confirmed.

"And you believed them?" Dean raised his brows doubtfully.

"Look at me, Dean. They let me go without a scratch," Sam pointed out and Dean looked at his little brother. He seemed fine.

"Wait, so you're saying…," Dean said, having a hard time to grasp the truth. "No, man, no way." He shook his head vehemently. "I don't know why they let you go. I don't really care. We find 'em, we waste 'em," he said stubbornly.

"What, no! Are you crazy? They're good people!" Hayley protested, shocked he would even suggest such a thing.

"They're not people! How many times do we need to have this discussion?" Dean snapped angrily. "What part of 'vampires' don't you two understand, huh? If it's supernatural, we kill it, end of story. That's our job," he argued.

"No, Dean, that is not our job. Our job is hunting evil. And if these things aren't killing people, they're not evil!" Sam countered and Hayley nodded in agreement.

"Of course they're killing people, that's what they do. They're all the same, Sam. They're not human, okay? We have to exterminate every last one of them," Dean said irritated and Hayley threw him a look.

"So, what, am I next on your hit-list? I'm not human either." Hayley said challengingly. "Or Sam? You know, he has powers too. What about him?" She knew Dean's issues were going way deeper than just killing some simple vamps. It was about the ridiculous notion that one day he might have to kill his own brother and she wasn't having any of his nonsense.

"You two just have powers. Those vampires are monsters," Dean argued.

"No, Dean, I don't think so, all right? Not this time," Sam said softly, trying to cool down the heated conversation.

"Gordon's been on those vamps for a year, guys, he knows," Dean said.

"Gordon?" Hayley raised a brow at him.

"Yes," Dean replied frustrated.

"Yeah, like he can be trusted," she snorted.

"Yeah like you're such an expert on trust. You trust about anyone," Dean retorted, thinking about Wells.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"Nothing," he mumbled dismissively and she narrowed her eyes at him. This hadn't been the first time, he'd been throwing little jabs like this at her.

"Fine. You know what? I can't stand to be around you right now, so I'm gonna go back to the motel room and get drunk with the real booze, alright?" She said, turning her back on them.

"Great," Sam commented, shaking his head at his older brother. "So, you're really taking his word for it?"

"That's right," Dean said stubbornly.

"Ellen says he's bad news," Sam informed him.

"You called Ellen?" Dean asked and Sam nodded. "And I'm supposed to listen to her? We barely know her, Sam. No thanks, I'll go with Gordon."

"Right, 'cause Gordon's such an old friend," Sam mocked him. "You don't think I can see what this is?"

"What are you talking about?" Dean asked, heated.

"He's a substitute for Dad, isn't he? A poor one," Sam replied.

"Shut up, Sam," Dean snapped furiously.

"He's not even close, Dean. Not on his best day," Sam continued.

"You know what? I'm not even going to talk about this," Dean said, throwing his arms in the air out of frustration.

"You know, you slap on this big fake smile, but I can see right through it. Because I know how you feel, Dean," Sam said. "Dad's dead. And he left a hole, and it hurts so bad you can't take it, but you can't just fill up that hole with whoever you want to. It's an _insult_ to his memory," he yelled.

"Okay," Dean said with a smile. He turned his back to Sam before he spun around again, punching him in the jaw.

Sam fell back a little and paused for a moment. He could hit him back, but he wouldn't. "You hit me all you want. It won't change anything," he said defiantly.

"I'm going to that nest. You don't want to tell me where it is, _fine_. I'll find it myself," Dean said, turning around and starting to walk away.

"Dean?" Sam called out, running after his older brother.

* * *

The boys returned back to the motel room after their fight. Hayley was sitting by the table, looking at the map. She had seen everything through the window and just shook her head at them.

"Oh, looks like the _Incredible Hulk_ is back," Hayley said when Dean stormed into the room, shortly followed by Sam.

"Where's Gordon?" Dean asked her, looking around the little room and ignoring her little remark.

"Don't know. Wasn't here when I came back. Thank god...," Hayley replied, rolling her eyes back annoyed.

"You think he went after them?" Sam asked, looking at Dean.

"Probably," Dean replied with a shrug.

"What's going on?" Hayley asked.

"Gordon's gonna kill the vamps," Sam told her and she immediately got up from her seat. "Dean, we have to stop him," he said, looking at Dean.

"Really, Sam? Because I say we lend a hand," Dean retorted.

"Okay, that's it. I don't have time for you to grow a conscious. I'm going alone and stop Gordon," Hayley declared.

"You don't even know where the nest is," Dean argued and Hayley just smiled at him.

"I do. Because Sam told me," she said with a smirk, and before the brothers could even argue, she was gone.

"You have exactly five seconds to tell me where that nest is," Dean said through gritted teeth, glaring at Sam and his little brother sighed in response, but nodded. "I'll drive. Give me the keys."

Sam looked at the table where he had left them earlier, but they weren't there anymore. "He snaked the keys," Sam realized and Dean let out a frustrated breath.

* * *

He was less than amused to hotwire the Impala, but it was the only to get to the nest.

"I can't believe this. I just fixed her up, too," Dean complained, grimacing. The car finally started and he leaned back in his seat. "So the bridge, is that, uh, is that all you got?"

"The bridge was four and a half minutes from their farm," Sam replied.

"How do you know?" Dean asked, raising a brow.

"I counted," Sam replied casually. He took out the map and started drawing a path on it. "They took a left out of the farm, then turned right onto a dirt road, followed that for two minutes slightly up a hill, then took another quick right and we hit the bridge," Sam explained.

"You're good. You're a monster pain in the ass, but you're good," Dean said with a grin. "Is that what you told Hayley too?"

"Not exactly. She knows it's four and a half minutes away from the bridge, but other than that, no. But I figure with her speed, she's gonna find it pretty quickly. At least we won a couple more minutes," Sam said and Dean nodded.

"Why did you tell her where the nest is anyways? You know she does stuff like this," Dean said.

"This isn't my fault," Sam said, frowning.

"Oh, so it's mine?" Dean asked, furrowing his brows.

"Yes," Sam replied simply, throwing him a look. "You can't just talk about killing anything that isn't human and expect her not to freak out, Dean."

"Well, she knows I'm not gonna waste her," Dean argued with a frown and Sam threw him another look.

"Dean, you literally tried to shoot her three times," Sam countered.

"Oh c'mon! That was months ago," Dean said.

"Yeah, but have you actually ever apologized to her about it?" Sam asked, looking at him. Dean squirmed around in his seat. He wanted to say something, but couldn't think of a good argument.

"You think she's smart enough to not use her powers in front of Gordon?" Dean asked after a pause.

"Yeah…maybe you should speed up a little," Sam admitted and Dean floored the gas pedal as the Impala crossed the bridge.

* * *

Hayley had made it to the farm house before Gordon. She ran in and found a woman in the living room, packing up some boxes. She jumped back startled when she noticed Hayley standing in the doorway.

"Lenore, right?" Hayley asked, remembering the name Sam told her. As it turned out, the bartender, Eli, had been one of the vampires too and that's how they found Sam in the first place. "I'm not here to hurt you. You need to leave. _Now._ They're coming for you," she informed the vampire.

"Why are you helping us?" Lenore asked.

"You're not killing anyone and we're not monsters. At least, I'm not," Hayley replied simply.

She saw the vampire's eyes widen in front of her, but it was too late. Something hard hit her head and everything went black.

* * *

When she came back to consciousness, she was still on the floor in the living room at the farm house, leaning against a wall. Her eye sight was still blurry, but she glanced over to two figures not far from her.

Gordon had Lenore tied to a chair. She had tons of cuts and bruises and groaned in pain. Hayley watched as Gordon dipped his knife into a jar of blood – dead man's blood as she gathered. He circled the vamp like a predator before he cut her across the chest with his knife. The torture horrified Hayley to the bone and she tried to get up from the floor and help the vampire.

She then noticed her feet were tied together and her hands were tied behind her back. She struggled against the ropes, but she was by far not as good as the brothers when it came to liberating themselves whenever they were hogtied.

"Let her go," Hayley told him, but Gordon just laughed at her.

"I'm sorry. I can't do that. She's a monster," Gordon argued.

"She's not. You are," Hayley threw back, but that just made him laugh even more.

"Sam, Dean. Come on in," Gordon said with a smile, not even turning around and Hayley sighed relieved when she spotted them. Truth be told, she hadn't expected her solo trip to work out well, but she knew she could always count on them.

"Hey, Gordon. What's going on?" Dean asked, looking at the tied up vampire.

"Guys!" Hayley called out and the brothers finally spotted her too.

"What the hell did you do to her?" Dean snapped when he saw her tied up on the ground.

"Relax, Hayley just got in the way. She's fine," Gordon said, smiling. "I'm poisoning Lenore here with some dead man's blood. She's going to tell us where all her little friends are, aren't you? Wanna help?" He asked, looking back at Dean.

"Look, man-," Dean started. Looking at Hayley, he knew upsetting Gordon would be the wrong move now.

"Grab a knife. I was just about to start in on the fingers," Gordon said, a wicked smile on his face. He dragged the knife across her arms, blood running out from the open wound. And for the first time, Dean noticed Gordon might enjoy this whole thing a little too much.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey, let's all just chill out, huh?" Dean said, raising his hands.

"I'm completely chill," Gordon deadpanned.

"Gordon, put the knife down," Sam said through gritted teeth. He took a step closer to Gordon, ready to punch him, but Dean stopped him, putting a hand on his chest.

"Sounds like it's Sam here who needs to chill," Gordon replied.

"Just step away from her, all right?" Sam ordered him calmly.

"You're right. I'm wasting my time here. This bitch will never talk. Might as well put her out of her misery," Gordon said and pulled out an even bigger knife from his jacket. "I just sharpened it, so it's completely humane. But first, let me show you something."

Gordon was fast when he grabbed Hayley. He gripped her arm and rose her to her feet, dragging her over to the vampire. The boys were ready to attack him, but Gordon held the knife to her throat, keeping the brothers at a distance.

"You son of a bitch. If you hurt her-," Dean threatened, but Gordon just chuckled. He glanced at Hayley, who looked at him and he knew what she was thinking. He shook his head slightly, telling her not to use her powers. He would think of something.

"Relax. If I wanted to kill her, she'd already be on the floor. Just making a little point," Gordon replied. He cut Hayley's ties around her arms and grabbed one. He pulled up the sleeve of her jacket and cut along her forearm with the knife, the cool metal stinging on her skin.

"Let her go. Now!" Dean warned him.

Gordon ignored him, pulling her closer to the vampire, the blood from her arm dripping down to the tied-up woman. Her fangs descended and she started hissing uncontrollably.

"You think she's so different? Still want to save her? Look at her. They're all the same. Evil, bloodthirsty," Gordon said, a winning smile on his face.

Hayley looked down at the vampire. She was struggling against her urge to feed and eventually she won. Lenore retracted her fangs, turning her head defiantly away. "No. No," she cried out. Dean looked stunned at the vampire and even Gordon seemed genuinely surprised, not that any of this would change his mind.

"You hear her, Gordon?" Sam said, glaring at him. "Now let them go."

Gordon considered for a minute. He was still holding on to Hayley's arm, his other hand still holding a knife to her throat. He looked at the vampire and then back to her bleeding wound. Unfortunately in this case, her cut wasn't bleeding anymore and had completely healed.

"What the-," Gordon muttered, his eyes widening and the others realized what he was staring at.

"Oops," Hayley mumbled, looking panicked over to the brothers.

"Hayley, now!" Dean yelled and she knew what it meant.

She spun around gracefully, struggling free from Gordon's hold and punched him in the face. He tumbled back a little and Hayley grabbed Lenore, racing her across the room. "Go," she told her, but the vampire stared stunned at her. "Go! It's okay," Hayley assured her and the vampire ran out of the house as fast as she could before Hayley turned back to face Gordon.

"What the hell are you?" Gordon asked, taking a few steps closer to her, knife in hand. "You know what? Doesn't really matter. I'm gonna enjoy killing you."

"Hey, hey, hey, Gordon, let's talk about this," Dean tried to swoop in.

"What's there to talk about? It's like I said, Dean. No shades of gray," Gordon said to him.

"Yeah. I hear ya. And I know how you feel," Dean said, thinking about his next move.

"Do you?" Gordon asked, raising his brows. "Is that why you run around with something like this?" He gestured at Hayley and she angrily narrowed her eyes at him.

"That vampire that killed your sister deserved to die, but…," Dean argued, but he was interrupted by a loud laugh coming from Gordon.

"Killed my sister? That filthy fang didn't kill my sister," Gordon replied. "It _turned_ her. It made her one of them. So I hunted her down, and I killed her myself."

"You did what?" Dean asked shocked.

"It wasn't my sister anymore, it wasn't human. I didn't blink. And neither would you," Gordon said, pointing his knife at him knowingly.

"So you knew all along, then? You knew about the vampires, you knew they weren't killing anyone. You knew about the cattle. And you just didn't care," Sam said, looking at him.

"Care about what? A nest of vampires suddenly acting nice? Taking a little time out from sucking innocent people? And we're supposed to buy that? Trust me. Doesn't change what they are," Gordon said. "Same goes for Hayley here. Who knows how many people she already killed."

"Well I can tell you that much. _None_ ," Dean said.

"He's lying!" Hayley shouted and both Gordon and Dean stared at her. "To protect me," she clarified. "You're right, Gordon. With my powers, who knows how many people I've killed."

"Dammit, Hayley," Dean exclaimed.

"No, no, no," Gordon said, taking a few steps closer to her, knife raised. "You haven't killed anyone yet. I can see it in your eyes. But you will."

Gordon then leaped at her, but she raced away, letting him hit the wall instead and she sped over to the brothers. Gordon got back up, looking around the room for her. When he found her standing behind Sam, he moved to run over to her.

"Uh-uh. Uh-uh!" Dean warned Gordon from taking another step closer. He was aiming his gun at him, cocking it. "Gordon, I think you and I've got some things to talk about," he said with a smirk.

"Get out of my way," Gordon snarled at him.

"Sorry," Dean replied with a shrug.

"You're not serious," Gordon said, shaking his head at him.

"I'm having a hard time believing it too, but I know what I saw. If you want her or those vampires, you gotta go through me," Dean said and Hayley and Sam threw him surprised looks.

Gordon nodded, considering his options. He looked down at the knife in his hands before he slammed it into the table. "Fine," Gordon agreed, challenging him.

Dean stared at the knife stuck in the table and then back at his gun. He pulled out the clip and set his weapon aside as well.

"Dean," Hayley said, looking at him anxiously.

"Sam, get her out of here," he ordered his little brother and Sam put his arm around Hayley, leading her outside. She obliged for once, Sam's arm around her letting her know that it would be alright.

Gordon walked over to him, punching him hard in the face. Dean fell back a little, but was quick enough on his feet again and hit Gordon in the jaw. As he tumbled backwards, he grabbed the knife from the table again and Dean groaned annoyed. Of course, Gordon wouldn't fight fair.

"What are you doing, man? You doing this for a monster? Come on, Dean, we're on the same side here," Gordon argued.

"I don't think so, you sadistic bastard," Dean said, going for another punch as they wrestled through the room.

But Gordon was quick, throwing him across the room instead, smashing him against a table. He gasped in pain, but rolled onto his side and got back up on his feet. "You're not like your brother. You're a killer. Like me," he tried to convince Dean.

Dean then kicked Gordon, taking his balance away, making it easy for him to grab him. He punched him a few more times before he hauled him up and pinned him against the wall. Dean then elbowed him in the face, knocking him out cold. He then slammed Gordon's head into another wall. "Oh, sorry," Dean said with a smirk, not meaning his apology seriously.

Dean then slumped Gordon into the chair, where the vampire was tied up before, doing the same to Gordon. "You know, I might be like you, and I might not. But you're the one tied up right now," Dean said winningly.

* * *

When Sam and Hayley came back inside, they found Dean pacing the living room in front of Gordon, who was still tied to a chair. Dean had a few cuts and bruises on his face and looking around the room, their fight must have been bad. There was a lot of broken glass and splintered wood lying around, but Dean didn't seem bothered by any of it.

"Did we miss anything?" Sam asked, raising his eyebrows at Dean.

"Nah, not much," Dean joked, shaking his head. "Lenore get out okay?"

"Yeah. All of 'em did," Hayley replied with a soft smile. She seemed happy about that fact, although she still looked worriedly at him.

"Then I guess our work here is done," Dean announced, smiling at her. "How you doin', Gordy? Gotta tinkle yet?" Dean asked Gordon, who was awake again and glaring at him in response. "All right. Well, get comfy. We'll call someone in two or three days, have them come out, untie you," he told him before he jammed Gordon's knife back into the table behind him.

"Ready to go, Dean?" Sam asked.

"Not yet," Dean said with a smirk. "I guess this is goodbye. Well, it's been real." Dean hit Gordon across the face. The chair lost its balance and fell with Gordon to the ground. Sam cleared his throat and when Dean looked back at the two, he could see two gigantic grins on their faces.

"Okay. I'm good now. We can go," Dean said satisfied.

* * *

They left the farm house, walking back to the Impala when Dean stopped.

"Sam?" He called out and his little brother turned around. Dean was standing there like a boxer, feet set wide apart. "Clock me one."

"What?" Sam asked confused and Hayley chortled, almost chocking when she looked at him.

"Come on. I won't even hit you back. Let's go," Dean said determined.

"No," Sam said, shaking his head.

"Let's go, you get a freebie. Hit me, come on," Dean repeated, closing his eyes, getting ready for the punch.

"I can super sonic punch him for you if you want," Hayley suggested with a grin and Dean threw her a look.

"Huh," Sam said, considering it with a smile. "But, no. I'll take a raincheck. C'mon Dean, you look like you just went twelve rounds with a block of cement," he said and walked ahead to the car. Hayley shook her head at them with a smile, turning to follow Sam.

"Hey, Hayley," Dean said and she stopped. He jogged up to her. "I know what you did in there. Tryin' to teach me a lesson by getting yourself in danger?" He looked knowingly at her and she smiled back in response.

"Well, did you learn it?" She asked.

"Yeah, yeah. I guess I have," Dean replied with a smile. "Just next time, don't try to get yourself killed again," he scolded her.

"Well, that depends. Are you gonna be stupid again?" Hayley asked.

"Probably," he admitted. "But I try not to."

"Well, guess we have a deal then, Winchester," she said, smiling. "Plus, I knew you and Sam would come. I can always count on you guys." And he smiled at that.

"You know I would never hurt you, right?" Dean asked her and she looked up at him.

"Even if I become evil?" She questioned, raising her brows.

"Please, you and evil? You could never be a monster. You poop sunshine and rainbows," he replied with a chuckle and she giggled.

"You forgot the glitter," she added and he threw her a look. "What? I'm a girl. I like sparkly things."

"Well, alright," he said with a chuckle.

"Same goes for Sam, just so you know," she said with a soft smile, marching on towards his little brother until they had reached the Impala.

"Have I ever actually apologized to you?" Dean then asked and Hayley looked at him.

"For what? There's a list of things, you know," she replied, teasing him, and Sam chuckled.

"I'm tryin' here, okay?" Dean said, throwing her a look and she smirked at him. "But, uh, I'm sorry I tried to kill you. You know, when we first met…," he said, looking down at his feet guiltily.

"Please…that was months ago. It's alright," she replied with a shrug and he looked up at her again and then threw a look at Sam, who was sniggering. "Plus, you only _tried_. It's not like you can really kill me. You're only human, Dean," she deadpanned and Sam burst out laughing for good.

"Touché," Dean said with a chuckle and then sighed. "I wish we never took this job. It's jacked everything up."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked and the two threw him a confused look.

"Think about all the hunts we went on, Sammy, our whole lives," Dean started.

"Okay…," Sam said, not following.

"What if we killed things that didn't deserve killing? You know? I mean, the way Dad raised us…," Dean said.

"You're only realizing this now?" Hayley asked, lifting her brow and he shrugged apologetically.

"And besides Dean, after what happened to Mom, Dad did the best he could," Sam said and Hayley nodded in agreement. Even she could understand _that_.

"I know he did. But the man wasn't perfect. And the way he raised us, to hate those things…and man, I hate 'em. I do," Dean admitted. "When I killed that vampire at the mill, I didn't even think about it. Hell, I even _enjoyed_ it."

"Well, you saved _me_. And you didn't kill Lenore," Hayley argued and he looked at her.

"No, but every instinct told me to. I was gonna kill her. I was gonna kill 'em all," Dean confessed.

"Yeah, Dean, but you didn't. And that's what matters," Sam said.

"Yeah. Well, 'cause you two are a pain in my ass," Dean said and the two chuckled.

"Guess we might have to stick around to be a pain in the ass, then," Sam said with a grin.

"Thanks," Dean said, nodding.

"Don't mention it," Sam said before he and Hayley proceeded to get into the Impala.

Dean stared into the distance for a moment, taking it all in. Apparently monsters could change and to his surprise, so could people. He climbed inside the car and then the three of them drove off again to their next case.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Whew! Finished this chapter pretty fast. Guess I'm learning something from Hayley ;)

This was a lot of fun to write and I hope you guys enjoyed reading it! Next, I'll start with the Central City chapter. It's gonna be full of awesome and is titled "City of Heroes". Dean and Joe will work more on the Reverse Flash case while Hayley will be busy figuring some things out with Mike and it's gonna be funny (and dramatic) and on top of that, General Eiling will make an appearance as well. Can't wait for the sisters to be back together again too. Have I mentioned I love those two? :D

Thanks again so much for reviewing! I love you all so much and you keep giving me the greatest ideas and inspirations for this story!

I have watched the movie _Constantine_ many times (it's one of my fiancé's favorites), so I know I will love the show as well. Constantine's character definitely seems to fit in perfectly with the SPN universe and I can see their characters getting along well. And yeah, I thought it was quite funny too that Hayley had crush on Ash, because she's usually the quite confident flirter and not easily rattled by a guy (which I like a lot about her. Most female characters are always swoon by a male character and I always thought that was a bit unrealistic tbh). But I loved that Hayley was just a drooling mess around Ash this time and the perplexed faces she got from the brothers because of it :D  
I also _love_ that you see her already as a full-fledged Winchester. But to me I guess, she'll always be a West :) and I'm not even sure I want her to be part of the family, not yet anyways. I think they still know not enough about one another to be considered a family yet. Plus, I always think of them as a team, like Team Flash and I like that sentiment. You know, three friends, sticking together and fighting evil (I even call them _Team Baby_ in my hand-written notes btw). So yeah, Dean, Sam and Hayley are friends for now like she's friends with Cisco and Caitlin. The only reason, they seem more comfortable with each other is probably because they share the same tragic life story. Hayley and Dean especially have a deeper bond over that and it was one of the main reasons she joined the brothers. Since I try to let their relationship evolve as naturally as possible, I'm sure it's gonna be less weird when we actually get there haha

Thanks so much for the feedback, guys! If you want, you can let me know what your favorite scenes were from the series so far (funniest, cutest...) or your least favorite (either because reading it broke your heart or because maybe you didn't like the turn the story took). Let me know! I'm curious :)

Happy reading!


	4. City of Heroes

_And you, you can be mean_  
 _And I, I'll drink all the time_  
 _'Cause we're lovers, and that is a fact_  
 _Yes we're lovers, and that is that_  
 _Though nothing will keep us together_  
 _We could steal time, just for one day_  
 _We can be heroes, for ever and ever_  
 _What d'you say?_

 _Heroes_ by **David Bowie**

* * *

 **4\. City of Heroes (X-Over)**

 **Central City, Missouri**

"You know Hayley's gonna be pissed when she wakes up," Sam said as they drove over the bridge, crossing the Missouri River.

"Well, we're about to find out," Dean said with a smirk, glancing back to Hayley asleep on the backseat of the Impala. "Hey, Speedy," he said, whistling. "Wake up. We're here."

She opened her eyes slowly, rising back to life again with a big yawn. "You guys found a case?"

"Nope," Dean said, grinning and Sam threw him a look. He had told his older brother several times that this was a bad idea.

"Great. So another bar then, huh?" She raised her eyebrows at him, leaning forward before she looked out the window suspiciously. "Wait…I know this building!"

"Welcome home, Speedy," Dean replied, chuckling and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"You brought me home, Winchester?! You are so dead!" She yelled.

"Told you," Sam muttered under his breath and Dean rolled his eyes.

"And you knew about this?!" Hayley yelled, looking at Sam now.

"Hey, don't look at me. It was all their idea," Sam replied.

" _Their_ idea?" Hayley asked, lifting a brow.

"Yeah, Iris called. Said she had good news for you and wants to celebrate," Dean said, smirking.

"And you fell for that? God, you're gullible," Hayley replied, rolling her eyes.

"Oh c'mon. Since I knew you wouldn't go alone, we're coming with. Besides, we all could use a little break," Dean said and heard a deep sigh coming from behind him.

"Fine," she gave in. "As long as we're not going to the..." She looked out the window when the Impala came to a halt in front of one of her most favorite places. "…bar."

"Dean!"

"What? I didn't pick the location," Dean replied defensively. "Talk to your sister about it."

"Oh, I will!" Hayley exclaimed determinedly and jumped out of the car.

"Told you," Sam said, looking at his brother.

"Yeah, you said that," Dean retorted annoyed.

"Just sayin' it again," Sam said with a grin before the brothers joined Hayley.

* * *

The three entered the bar. Hayley immediately recognized Iris amongst the crowd. She was dancing happily with Eddie until Iris' eyes finally found hers. She let go of Eddie and raced over to her sister, falling into a deep and long overdue embrace.

"You know, I'd be so angry at you that you tricked me to come here if I weren't so happy to see you," Hayley said, still holding on to her sister, barely being able to breathe.

"Well, tricking you was really the only way to get here," Iris replied.

"Hey, you came!" Cisco exclaimed and the girls let go of each other and looked over to him. He was standing next to Caitlin, who was smirking at him.

"Told you," Caitlin said to him and he threw her a look. "Pay up." She held out her hand and Cisco gave her a $50 bill.

"You bet against me?" Hayley asked him and he looked at her guiltily.

"Hey, you can be pretty stubborn. And you're fast. So chances were pretty good for me, okay?" Cisco defended himself.

"I always knew you'd come," Caitlin replied, smiling happily.

"I want in on the next pool," Dean chimed in.

"Hey!" Hayley protested, slapping his arm.

"Yeah, me too," Sam said and Hayley looked at him in shock.

"Oh, not you too, Sam. Now I'm really disappointed," Hayley said jokingly and the brothers sniggered.

"Iris, now that you dragged your sister here, mind telling us what we're all doing here?" Joe asked as he joined the group with a beer in hand.

"Well…you are now officially talking to Central City Picture News' newest reporter," Iris announced with a big grin.

"What! That's great!" Hayley said excitedly, hugging her again.

"That's great. I'm proud of you, baby girl," Joe said with a smile.

"Aw, thanks Dad. So…I thought we could all toast tonight to me, serving no more coffee," Iris said with a happy smile and everyone nodded in agreement.

"I'll go get the shots," Cisco announced before he hopped off to the bar.

"Hey Iris, can we talk for a second?" Hayley asked, giving her sister a look. It was the same look they'd been giving each other since they were children. It was code for devising a secret plan. In their childhood, it usually meant coming up with a plan to get more chocolate or a boy to like you. Nowadays it usually involved the sisters getting into trouble.

"Yeah, sure," Iris said and they walked across the room, getting some distance between them and their friends. "What's up?"

"Okay, so, last few weeks I've been looking into my Mom's case," Hayley confessed and Iris' eyes widened.

"What? Does Dad know?" Iris asked.

"No," Hayley said, shaking her head. "And his not gonna."

"Is this still about Dad not believing you when we were children? You know he changed his mind ever since you got your powers," Iris said.

"Yeah, I know, but still. Sometimes I still feel like people don't believe the man in yellow really exists," Hayley said.

"Well, I always believed you. You're the reason I started blogging about supernatural events in this city in the first place," Iris said.

"Which is exactly why I need you and your reporting skills. I hacked into the CCPD's database to get a look at my Mom's case, but everything is gone. All that's left are some untraceable corrupted files. And when I tried to check the hard copies, they were all gone as well," Hayley informed her sister.

"That's definitely weird. You think the man in yellow took them?" Iris asked.

"I don't know. Probably. Who else would have a reason to?" Hayley replied.

"Yeah," Iris agreed with a nod. "So what do you need?"

"Just see if you can find anything in the archives of CCPN about that night. Maybe I missed something," Hayley said.

"Yeah, sure. Anything else?"

"No…just be careful, Iris," she reminded her sister. She looked around the bar and let out a frustrated sigh. "You know, of all the places you could've picked to celebrate…did it have to be the bar?"

"You and Mike still not talking, huh?" Iris asked and Hayley shook her head. "Well, you should know that I at least made sure he's not wor-," Iris said before she caught a glimpse of Mike behind the bar. "-king…huh, guess he must've found out you were coming and switched shifts."

"Well, didn't you do a darn job of saving your sister from awkward encounters," Hayley mumbled and Iris threw her a look.

"You could also be a grown-up and go talk to him," Iris teased her and Hayley rolled her eyes.

"You know, I thought you outgrew the relationship meddling in third grade," Hayley replied and Iris giggled.

"Tell you what – I stop getting involved when you get your ass over there and go talk to him," Iris said, smirking. Iris held out a shot for her to drink. She sighed deeply, downing the shot before she gathered up enough courage to walk over to the bar.

"Hey," she said carefully. Mike came up from the bar, a surprised look on his face for a second before he cleared his throat.

"Hey," he said, looking at her while he fumbled around with some glasses. "Didn't expect you showing up anytime soon."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about running out on you last time," Hayley said, looking up at him.

"Or taking my calls for the last four weeks," Mike muttered.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that too," she said and he nodded. "So, what you been up to? You know what you're gonna do yet with your…," she said, trying to think of a word to describe being a meta-human in a public space.

"Abilities?" He offered with a smile.

"Yeah."

"No, not really planning on doing anything," Mike replied with a shrug.

"So you're just gonna keep being a bartender, pretending like nothing ever happened?" Hayley asked, frowning.

"Well, you know. I like this job. I like booze. Seems like a perfect fit," he replied with a smile and she shook her head at him.

"Yeah, I guess. Maybe you're right. I mean you being you and all," Hayley replied, already regretting it.

"Yeah, 'cause I'm just a simple bartender, right Hales? I mean what am I gonna do," Mike snapped.

"No, that's not what I meant. It's not about what you do. Just the way you are," she replied, biting down on her lip hard. Why couldn't she just shut up for one second?

"Oh well then…I'm gonna go over there now," Mike replied hurt and walked to the other side of the bar, far away from her, turning his attention back to his other customers.

"I'm such an asshole," she sighed, letting her head drop on the bar.

"Yup," Dean said as he sat down next to her, placing his beer bottle in front of him.

"Oh, great. How much did you hear of that?" Hayley asked with a frown.

"Enough to know that you are kind of a bitch," Dean replied with a chuckle and she slapped his arm.

"Well, thank you!" She protested. "But I guess I deserved that," she finally admitted.

"Yeah, you did," Dean replied, sniggering before he took another sip from his beer.

She grabbed the drink in front of her and chugged it down before she placed the empty glass back on the bar with a frustrated sigh. "I hate that this stuff has no effect on me. It's like I'm twenty-four years old and my drinking days are already over."

Dean took out a little vile from his leather jacket and handed it to her. It was a little bottle of the alcohol Hayley had once synthetized for herself. She looked at it curiously before she realized what it was and drank it all.

"God, I needed this. Thank you," she said, a little happier than before and he smiled at her.

"You're welcome. Besides you're a lot nicer when you're drunk," Dean teased her and she threw him a look.

* * *

It was past midnight when the friends finally stumbled out of the bar and onto the streets of Central City. They stopped in their tracks when they suddenly heard a loud blast, coming from a few blocks down.

They looked up at one of the skyscrapers. There was an explosion in one of the higher levels of the building and a window cleaner on a suspended platform was screaming for help on the outside of the scraper. One of the ropes had cut loose and his life was literally hanging on by one single thread.

"Guys, look! There's a window washer on the 14th floor. He's gonna fall!" Hayley exclaimed, pointing at the man.

"Well, don't try and catch him. You don't have super strength," Cisco warned her and she rolled her eyes. No, she didn't and the one person who actually had super strength, had no interest of doing anything about it.

"Okay, uhm…is there like a bed store near here? Maybe I could get a bunch of mattresses and stack them?" Hayley suggested and her friends threw her a look.

"This isn't a roadrunner cartoon, Speedy," Dean replied, shaking his head.

"How fast do I need to go to run up the side of a building?" Hayley asked. They were running out of time if they didn't come up with an idea fast.

"That's your plan?" Sam asked, raising his eyebrows at her.

"Well, theoretically it'd be doable," Cisco chimed in. "So that's like 50 meters, right? 32.56…," Cisco said, doing the math in his head.

"Dude, hurry!" Hayley urged him, glancing back up at the poor window cleaner.

"Just run really fast and you'll be fine," Caitlin told her. "But you need to maintain your velocity on the way down, or…"

"Or what?" Sam asked, looking at Caitlin.

"Splat," she replied simply.

"Great," Hayley said with a sigh before she sped away.

Her velocity was enough to make it up the building, although she was glad she wasn't scared of heights. She grabbed the window washer just in time before the last rope broke. The platform the man just had been on crashed to the ground. She tried to keep her speed stable on her way down like Caitlin had told her to before she placed the man safely back on the ground and raced back over to her friends.

"Huh. That was kinda cool," Sam said, looking at her stunned.

"Thanks," Hayley replied with a happy grin.

* * *

The next morning Sam, Dean and Hayley decided to get their caffeine in take from CC Jitters before checking out the crime scene from last night. The boys were dressed in suits and ties, having their fake FBI badges at the ready while Hayley wore her usual work attire – a black pencil skirt and a white blouse, simple black heels, her hair up in a bun and her black-framed glasses bouncing on her nose.

"I slept like a baby on that couch. How's that thing more comfortable than a motel room mattress?" Dean asked, still raving about Hayley's sofa as they walked out of Jitters.

"Yeah, you said that…about a million times now, Dean," Sam replied with a snigger, shaking his head at his brother.

"Yeah, don't get me started on having an actual kitchen," Dean replied.

"Just next time, maybe not wake us up at 6AM because you suddenly decided to make breakfast," Hayley chimed in with a smile and Sam chuckled. It had been odd seeing Dean Winchester standing in a kitchen and actually _cook_.

"Are you complaining about fresh pancakes and bacon?" Dean asked, lifting a brow at her and she giggled.

"No. As long as you're enjoying yourself, Winchester," Hayley replied with a smile.

"Don't try nothing," a man suddenly said. He was standing in front of them, gun raised in one hand. He looked like a drug addict and was obviously trying to rob them. "Wallet. Now," the man ordered the three, fumbling around with his gun.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Dean mumbled, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, this is awesome," Hayley said, an excited grin on her face and the brothers threw her a confused look. "Hold on, okay? I'm just gonna…I'm gonna set this down," she said with a laugh, placing her coffee cup carefully on the ground. "I mean, this is crazy. There are literally hundreds of thousands of people in Central City, and out of everyone you could have picked to rob, you pick us," Hayley said, looking at the brothers, who carried a smile now as well.

"What, are you sick? Money, now," the man ordered them confused.

"I just…you're really gonna be kicking yourself, man," Hayley warned him with a grin. "I mean, if there was an Olympics for bad luck, you didn't just medal, pal. You Michael Phelps-ed."

"I'll count to three. Then I'm gonna shoot you. One…," the man threatened.

"Yeah," Hayley replied simply with a big grin, not moving an inch and Dean shook his head at her. However, he decided to refrain from interfering. He could let her have at least one little robber.

"Two," the man continued his countdown, cocking his gun. Hayley kept grinning before she disappeared into lightning swishing around the man.

Suddenly, the man was dressed down to his underwear, the gun was gone and a police officer was standing right next to him.

"What the-," the man stuttered out, looking down on himself confused and then back up to the three, who he had just tried to rob before his eyes found the police officer right next to him. The police officer cleared her throat, shaking her head at the robber.

"I think you've been looking for this guy," Hayley whispered to her and handed the cop a APB report.

"Thanks, Allen," the officer replied, getting her handcuffs ready.

* * *

"Hayley, what you got?" Joe asked when he found his daughter knee-deep into a new crime scene.

The building mostly consisted of offices and it was odd that the bomber had just destroyed this one particular floor. The floors were littered with broken office furniture, almost burnt beyond recognition and the air still smelled like smoke that burned in her nose.

"Bombers typically have their own unique signatures. Crimped wires, fragmentation. The level of sophistication is telling once I've analyzed it. You show me a bomb, I can usually find a clue in it," Hayley replied, wrinkling her forehead as she looked at different samples on the floor.

"Sounds like there's a _but_ coming," Dean said, looking at her.

"Yeah, I haven't found any sign of an oxidizing agent. It's as if the floor just blew itself up," Hayley informed them.

"Yeah, but things don't just blow up," Sam mused.

"Security guard said our bomber was a woman, red hair," Eddie said as he entered the office.

"Must've cut the security camera's feed," Joe added.

"There's no footage, but there might be something else. Some kind of small charge blasted the doorknob off," Hayley said.

"Any idea what's missing?" Dean asked.

"My guess is one of these files," Hayley replied as she got up from the floor and gestured over to about twenty filing cabinets in the room.

"It's gonna take days to figure out which one," Eddie replied with a sigh.

"Yeah, uhm, let's let Dr. Allen do her thing," Dean said, accompanying Eddie out of the room while Hayley speed searched the files.

* * *

"What's going on?" Sam asked Joe as he noticed the crime scene suddenly filling up with men in military uniforms.

"I have no idea. But they came in here like they own the place. Been talking to Captain Singh for the last half hour," Eddie informed him.

"This can't be good," Dean mumbled as the Captain walked over to them with another man in a military outfit. His uniform was dark blue and looked more neat with a tie, indicating a higher rank than the others.

"General Eiling, this is detective West," Singh introduced them.

"Detective," the general greeted Joe with a nod.

"What's this all about?" Joe asked.

"The army's taking over the bombing investigation," Singh announced.

"I'll need everything you have. Physical evidence, photographs, witness interviews, and all your personal notes," General Eiling replied.

"I've been on the job nearly 20 years and never heard of the army investigating anything civilian," Joe said.

"Well, it's not civilian. She's one of ours," Eiling said and the brothers shared a look.

"We'll send over everything we got," Joe replied warily.

"Very kind of you," the General said with a smile. "I think we'll take it now, though." Joe stared at him for a moment. The last thing he needed with a meta-human daughter and two fake FBI agents around was for the military to come snooping in.

"Give them what they want, Joe," Singh ordered him.

"You heard him, Joe. Give me what I want," Eiling said and Joe obliged with a nod before he and the boys walked back over to Hayley.

"Hey, what's going on?" Hayley asked, looking curiously at the General and then to two military men standing right next to them.

"General Eiling is relieving us from the bombing case. Give these men everything that's relevant," Joe informed her, giving her a look and she understood the cue.

"Sure thing, yeah," Hayley said with a nod, handing the box with evidence over to one of the soldiers. Before they walked away with it, she snatched the file back that she had found earlier in one of the cabinets.

"You three and a few civilians from S.T.A.R. Labs might want to check into that," Joe said, looking at them.

"I think we might," Hayley replied, sharing a look with the brothers.

* * *

"Thanks for coming to Central City," Joe said as he walked over to his desk at the police precinct.

"Yeah, wasn't easy draggin' her here," Dean replied and Joe chuckled. He hated lying to her, even more so after she had told him the truth. He was just glad Iris had delivered the perfect excuse for them to take a trip. "But I haven't really found anything yet."

"Yeah, me neither. Which is why I thought we might go back where it all started – the old Allen house," Joe said.

"Well, it happened over a decade ago and police couldn't find anything back then. Sure we find anything there?" Dean asked, raising his brows.

"Back then police didn't know what they were looking for… _I_ didn't know what I was looking for. But knowing what I know now, it might be worth a try," Joe replied and Dean nodded. "Only problem is, the best CSI here is Hayley and we can't trust anybody else with this."

"Well, I think I might know someone," Dean replied with a smile.

* * *

"I heard about your Dad. I'm sorry," Caitlin said softly as she walked over to Sam in the cortex of S.T.A.R. labs while Hayley and Cisco were eagerly working on finding their bomber.

"Yeah, thanks. Hayley told me about your fiancé. I'm sorry too," Sam said.

"Thank you," Caitlin replied with a sad smile. "I guess that explosion changed everyone's lives."

"Yeah, but seems like at least one good thing came out of it," Sam said with a smile, looking over at Hayley and Caitlin nodded in agreement.

"A VA file number is all the info you have on the bomber?" Cisco asked, furrowing his brows as he sat in front of the computer, Hayley standing behind him.

"C.C.P.D's been ordered off the case," Hayley replied.

"Well, who has the power to do that?" Cisco asked.

"The army. Some General. His name was Eiling, I think," she said.

"General Wade Eiling," Dr. Wells said as he joined them in the cortex.

"You know him?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I know him," Wells replied. "About ten years ago, General Wade Eiling contracted S.T.A.R. labs to develop enhanced gene therapies for soldiers. I was interested in the potential medical benefits for civilians. General Eiling really wanted to develop mind reading capabilities for interrogation purposes. I stopped the study when I saw his techniques up close, but our split was less than amicable."

"He took all the evidence I collected on the bombing. Everything but the folder," Hayley said.

Well…Lucky for us, the VA finally joined the new millennium and digitized their records. A lot of redacted info. But our girl's name is Bette Sans Souci, an EOD specialist for the army," Cisco said.

"EOD?" Sam asked, looking at Hayley.

"Bombs," she replied.

"Is there an address?" He asked Cisco.

"Hold on. Here, we go. One person in case of emergency. Cameron Scott. Inglewood," Cisco informed them.

* * *

"Hey, where we you?" Hayley asked as she and Sam picked up Dean on their way to Inglewood.

"Uh, left my gun at your apartment this morning," Dean replied, showing her the gun before he tucked it back into his jeans and she nodded, still a little suspicious. He started to disappear a lot whenever they were here. "So, we're looking for this red-headed woman, right?" He asked, clearing his throat.

"Yeah. Sergeant Bette Sans Souci. She was a bombing specialist in the army," Hayley replied.

"Great. How hard could it be to find a simple woman?" Dean asked, frowning as they walked down the streets.

"You mean a simple woman who inexplicably causes bombings all over the city?" Hayley asked, lifting an eyebrow at him with a smile. By now, it seemed more likely they were dealing with just another crazy meta-human.

"You guys hear that?" Sam asked, suddenly stopping and trying to hear something and the other two followed suit.

"What is that?" Hayley asked.

"I don't know. I think it's coming from there," Sam said and the three started running towards the noise.

They turned a few corners before they ended up at a dead-end street. They watched as a taller guy beat up a smaller one in a suit with unbelievable strength, holding him way up high in the air. He stopped when he noticed the three behind them and turned around.

"Mike?" Hayley said as she recognized the taller one. She frowned, her expression getting angrier each second.

"Uh, okay, before you say anything, you should know that this gentleman here-," Mike tried to explain with a nervous chuckle and gestured down to the man he had just beaten up. "Stand up, Al," he ordered the man in the suit and the man got up with a groan.

"Hi, there," the man said, waving at her, seemingly intimidated.

"Al here has a bad habit of not paying back his debts promptly," Mike said.

"I do," Al replied, nodding heavily.

"And, if his bookie wants to pay me to help him improve his habits, I mean, who am I to say no, right?" Mike said, smiling at her, although he knew his chances were high that his charms would fail him this time. "I mean, who's the victim here, really?"

Hayley let out a deep breath before she looked back at the little man. "Run along, Al."

"Yes, ma'am," Al replied and ran away, almost being faster than her.

"Are you kidding me?" Hayley asked him as soon as the man was out of sight, taking a few steps closer to him. "This is how you're using your powers? As muscle for hire?"

"Powers? What powers?" Dean asked confused, looking back and forth between the two and then at his brother, who just shrugged his shoulders.

"It's a living," Mike replied defensively, but Hayley just scoffed. "A _temporary_ living," he corrected himself.

"You're supposed to help people. You can't use your powers for money," she argued.

"Why? Don't you?" He asked, raising a brow at her.

"No!" She exclaimed upset, shaking her head at him.

"Well, that's a missed opportunity, because…," Mike tried to argue but she interrupted him.

"This goes against everything we stand for," Hayley threw in.

"Uhm, everything _you_ stand for," he corrected her and she narrowed her eyes at him angrily. "Look, I never said I wanted to save the world. Things cost money, and if I can make a few bucks using my powers, why shouldn't I?" Mike argued.

" _Fine_ , I get it," Hayley retorted.

"What?" Mike asked, taking the bait.

"You are so selfish," Hayley threw at him.

"Oh, okay," Mike scoffed, turning to walk away from her. How could it be that they always ended up right here? No matter what they were fighting about in the past, they always seemed to come back to this particular point.

"I don't know what else I should have expected from a…," Hayley started to say but stopped. She knew she would regret it later on.

"From what?" Mike asked, spinning back around to face her. "From a bartender?"

"I didn't say that," Hayley replied defensively.

"Yeah, but you were going to," Mike snapped. "Okay, I may be a meta-human like you, but I don't have this…this innate desire to go leaping into trouble. But that doesn't make me a bad person, all right?" He argued.

"Kinda does," Hayley countered, crossing her arms defiantly.

"No, it doesn't. You're no saint either, Hayley," Mike threw back at her.

"Excuse me?" Hayley frowned at him.

"Yeah, you run around, rescuing people, like you're just pure of heart. But that is crap. I know you. I know you just love to run away when things get tough," Mike said.

"You lied to me for over a year!" She yelled at him.

"Yeah, 'cause I knew how'd you react!" He yelled back at her. "I don't wanna do what you do."

"Why not? You could help people, make a difference," Hayley argued.

"Yeah, but we both know I'm not a hero," Mike replied.

"No. No, you're not. I really thought you could be, but guess I was wrong," Hayley said before she turned her back on him.

"What? You're just gonna run away again? Because that's what you do best," Mike retorted. She looked back at him, shaking her head before she raced away.

"Hayley, wait! I didn't mean to-," Mike tried to say but she was already too far gone. "I hate when she does that," he muttered under his breath. "God, I need a drink." Mike then left, going into the opposite direction of where Hayley had disappeared to.

"What the hell just happened?" Dean asked, looking at Sam.

"I think we just witnessed a fight between Hayley and her apparently meta-human ex-boyfriend…or current one. Not really sure about that one," Sam replied.

"Yeah, tell me about it. They're like ten seasons of Ross and Rachel wrapped into one day," Dean said.

"You really need to stop watching late night re-runs of 90s shows," Sam said with a chuckle and Dean threw him a look. "So, should we go find her?"

"Yeah, you go see if she went after that woman. I'll go check S.T.A.R. labs, see if she's there," Dean suggested and his little brother nodded in agreement.

* * *

Dean met up with Joe at the old Allen house. They decided to bring Cisco in to help with Hayley's mother's case. Of course, they refrained from telling him about their main suspect. But Cisco was the only other person they could think of, who would do as good of a CSI job as Hayley.

"Hey," Cisco greeted them as he walked up the front porch of the house.

"Hey, man. Thanks for meeting us," Dean said.

"Sure," Cisco replied with a nod. "What exactly are we doing here?"

"That's Hayley's old house," Joe replied.

"Where her mother was murdered?" Cisco asked, raising his brows at them.

"We have a theory about who might have been involved in Hayley's mother's death," Dean replied carefully.

"I thought us three could reexamine the crime scene, you could apply your technical expertise and help me prove who really did it," Joe added.

"For sure, we should get Dr. Wells and Caitlin in on this," Cisco suggested.

"No, we should keep this between us for the time being. If too many people know, Hayley will find out, and I don't want to involve her until we know something definitive," Joe replied and Cisco nodded.

Dean then knocked on the front door and a few moments later, a woman in her mid-fifties, dressed in nothing but a black nightgown and showing too much cleavage, opened it with a smile when she saw the three man.

"Hello, ma'am. I'm Detective West. This is FBI agent Hetfield and Cisco Ramon," Joe introduced them a little stunned at the woman's outfit.

"Oh, please, it's Sherry…like the drink," the woman replied with a chuckle, clearly flirting with him and the boys next to him held back a laugh. "What can I do for you, Detective?" She asked, flirty.

"I don't know if you were aware, but there was a homicide in this residence approximately thirteen years ago," Joe said.

"Oh, I know," she replied, nodding sadly.

"We've reopened the investigation. Do you mind if we come in and take another look around?" Joe asked.

"Oh, not at all," she replied, gesturing them inside.

"Thank you. Do you live alone?" Joe asked her and she smirked at him.

"Yes, I'm divorced," she replied and the boys gave Joe a look.

* * *

Hayley decided to keep looking for the bomber woman. She had forgotten about the brothers for a second after the fight she had with Mike, but she wouldn't dare to go back now and risk another run-in.

She finally saw a red-headed woman running down a small street and raced after her before she came to a stop right in front of the woman.

"Bette Sans Souci? I need you to come with me," Hayley said, grabbing the woman's arm.

"Don't touch me," the woman said, shaking off her hand. But it was too late and the woman accidently touched her suit. She looked shocked at Hayley and as the speedster looked down, she noticed her suit was suddenly glowing purple. "Get whatever you're wearing off of you. Hurry."

She hesitated for a moment before she ran to the end of the street, changing out of her suit as fast as possible. She managed to get out of it and race to safety before it exploded. The pieces of the suit went up in flames and its ashes rained down on her as she watched the whole scene unfold in nothing but her underwear.

"Holy crap," she muttered.

* * *

Cisco was still scanning the house, looking for any evidence of what might have happened that night.

"So what do we know so far?" Dean asked Joe as they stood idly by and let Cisco do his thing.

"Not much. Just what Hayley and Henry told us. And I've been thinking – there must have been two speedsters there that night," Joe mused.

"Two?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, the man in yellow murdered Hayley's mother. But how did she get out of the house and ended up a few blocks away that fast? No, there must have been two of them," Joe replied.

"Well, in the video she did talk about yellow _and_ red lightning. So might be possible. But why?" Dean asked.

"Well, that's what we have to figure out," Joe said.

"I'm not picking up anything. Not even with The Super Light," Cisco said.

"Super Light?" Dean asked, lifting a brow.

"Well, technically it's a multi-spectrum, violet laser-enhanced scanner that detects molecular schisms in the 600 mega-volt range, but I figured _Super Light_ was easier to say," Cisco replied.

"Right, but what does it tell you?" Dean asked and Cisco sighed.

"Nothing we didn't already know about that night," Cisco said.

"Okay, keep looking," Joe told him and the boys went back to work.

"Ahem." Sherry suddenly stood in the doorframe. She had changed into a black dress, showing just as much skin as before and cleared her throat. "Uh, can I get you boys something to drink? Water? Soda? Wine?" She offered them politely, her eyes not leaving Joe.

"Uh, we're fine. Thank you," Joe replied, a little taken aback.

"Well, if you change your mind, I've been told my strawberry daiquiris are sinful," she said with a smirk before she disappeared again. Joe sighed and turned around to look at the boys.

"We will not judge you," Cisco said and Dean shook his head in agreement, both of them holding in a laugh and Joe sighed.

"Okay, Hayley's mother's body was found here, knife beside her, blood spatter on the wall belonged to Nora," Joe said, showing them the crime scene in details, or as good as he remembered it.

"Joe, I think…I just think maybe Dean's right and it's been too long, and everything's different," Cisco said.

"Except that mirror," Joe said and gestured to a little commode with a build-in mirror on the other side of the living room. "Sherry must have bought it at the estate sale."

The three went over to the dresser and pushed it away from the wall as Cisco inspected the backside of it.

"Oh, my God. Silver nitrate," Cisco suddenly said, his voice a little more excited than before.

"The compound used in photography," Joe realized.

"It was often used to back vintage mirrors. If there were two speedsters there that night, the sparks from their movement would have generated enough flashes to actually expose images onto the silver nitrate," Cisco explained.

"You saying what I think you're saying?" Dean asked.

"This mirror might contain photographs of what actually happened that night," Cisco informed them excitedly. "I need to get back to S.T.A.R. labs and grab a few things."

"Okay, then let's do that and we come back here tomorrow," Joe announced.

* * *

Dean and Cisco had just arrived at S.T.A.R. labs, as had Sam, when suddenly lightning rushed into the cortex.

Hayley was barefoot, only wearing sweatpants and pulled a S.T.A.R. labs hoodie over her head. Her friends shot her confused looks while she was still busy getting ashes out of her hair.

"What the hell happened to you?" Dean asked her sternly and she rolled her eyes.

"Uh…don't ask," she said, shrugging.

"I'm gonna ask," Cisco chimed in, looking firmly at her. "Where's my suit?"

"It's…gone," Hayley replied.

"What do you mean, it's _gone_?" Sam asked, looking at her.

"What did you do with my suit?" Cisco asked.

"It blew up, dude," Hayley replied simply, still a little in shock apparently. "I managed to get out of it before it went… _kaboom_ ," she explained.

"My suit went _kaboom_?" Cisco repeated upset and Hayley nodded.

"Fun fact about Bette Sans Souci – she's not carrying bombs. She touched the emblem on the suit and turned it into a bomb. She's a meta-human," Hayley informed the team. "I'm just glad I didn't decide to go braless today," she joked and the boys sniggered.

"With the ability to cause spontaneous combustion upon tactile contact," Wells said as he came into the cortex.

"She blew up my suit," Cisco said, still not believing it entirely.

"You have, like, three more," Caitlin said to him and he looked at her.

"Okay, I have two. And I loved _that_ one," he replied.

"All right, what else do we know about her?" Dean asked.

"Oh, I don't know. She's pure evil," Cisco replied as he sat down at the computer, typing frantically. "We're gonna find this girl and send her butt into the pipeline. No one blows my tech to smithereens and gets away with it…," he threatened before Bette Sans Souci's picture popped up on the screen.

"Unless she looks like that," Dean added, looking at the screen and Cisco nodded heavily in agreement.

"No, she can't be evil," Cisco said, suddenly changing his mind about the suit killer.

"I don't think she meant to hurt me," Hayley agreed.

"Well, her being a meta-human explains General Eiling's interest in her," Sam added.

"And why he stole the case from us. He didn't want anyone to know what she could do," Joe chimed in as he joined the team in the cortex.

"Detective," Dr. Wells greeted him with a smile.

"Doctor," Joe acknowledged him with a nod. "So…human bomb. Must be Tuesday in Central City," he deadpanned.

"Yes, and General Eiling's not one to give up a potential asset without a fight," Wells said.

"We have to find her before he does," Hayley said determinedly, sharing a look with the brothers behind her.

* * *

It was late at night when the three decided to go back to Hayley's apartment and get some food in them and maybe, just maybe, a tiny bit of sleep.

"So what should I cook?" Dean asked as soon as they entered the apartment, going straight for the fridge and Sam and Hayley chuckled. "I make a mean mac and cheese."

"No, he doesn't," Sam said and Hayley giggled.

"Well, you're forgetting something…we're in Central City, which means…," Hayley said and Dean closed the fridge, looking at her, eyes wide.

"Big Belly Burger," Dean said, realizing, almost drooling on the floor.

Hayley then disappeared and came back seconds later with eight bags full of Big Belly Burger. She placed them at the kitchen counter and Dean grabbed a bag immediately. Sam and Hayley shook their heads at him with a chuckle.

They were half way through their meal when Hayley's laptop started beeping. "Oh, not now," she said with a frown, looking at the screen.

"What is it?" Sam asked.

"I've managed to piggyback onto General Eiling's own surveillance. According to what they're saying, the lovely Ms. Sans Souci was just spotted in Inglewood," Hayley informed the brother and they shared a look.

"That's the same neighborhood as Dr. Harold Hadley's office," Sam added.

"The military surgeon who performed several procedures on her?" Dean asked.

"Yeah," Sam replied, nodding.

"That's why she was looking for the folder," Dean said.

"We've gotta get to her before Eiling does," Hayley said and they looked at her with a nod, Dean dropping his burger back onto his plate in the process. Of course, they couldn't just finish one single meal.

* * *

The Impala came to a screeching halt right in front of Hadley's office.

"We're too late. Military's got the building already surrounded," Sam said, looking out the window.

"I still can get in there. Just wait in the car," Hayley said and the brothers gave her a look. "I can handle myself. Don't worry," she assured them and they nodded before she whooshed away.

Bette was still alive when she got into Hadley's office. They were in the middle of a heated conversation just as little green laser dots shined threw the windows. A shot was fired just as fast and Hayley grabbed Bette racing her to safety, hiding behind a column.

"You okay?" Hayley asked and Bette nodded. "Look, I can get you out of here. I can help you understand what happened to you."

"How?" Bette asked confused.

"Because it happened to me too," Hayley replied. "Please." And Bette nodded again.

* * *

"As the detonation dispersed throughout Central City. A number of people were exposed to a wave of unquantifiable energy. One of those people…was you," Dr. Wells explained as they had arrived back at S.T.A.R. labs, bringing Bette with them.

"You were in Central City a year ago?" Sam asked her and she nodded while Caitlin handed her a pair of gloves to cover her hands with.

"I had just returned from Afghanistan. I was there defusing roadside bombs and…," Bette started to explain as she pulled the gloves over her hands, closing them tightly. "…shrapnel ripped through me. I was flown back state side. Spent months at the base recuperating and next thing I know, I became the thing that almost killed me. And Eiling's favorite, new lab rat," Bette told them.

"The dark matter must have combined with the bomb particulate inside your body," Caitlin said.

"I thought Eiling did this to me," Bette said, looking at them.

"Eiling is not smart enough to create someone like you. Clever enough to see your value," Wells replied with a smile and Dean shot him a look. Maybe Wells felt the same way about Hayley. His own father had certainly been clever enough to see her value.

"Do you know of any others who were changed?" Bette asked.

"There've been a few," Caitlin replied awkwardly.

"But no one that looks like you," Cisco said and Dean chortled next to him while Hayley face palmed, chuckling a little herself. "I'm sorry. That was inappropriate. Please don't leave," Cisco apologized, realizing he had just said something out loud.

"I know how to perform a lobotomy," Caitlin deadpanned and Sam sniggered next to her.

* * *

"Her cellular structure's unlike anything I've ever seen," Wells said as he looked at Bette's blood samples at the screen in front of him.

"Her nitrogen levels are off the charts," Caitlin added before she left and joined Bette in the next room, conducting more tests on her.

"Do you think we can help her?" Hayley asked, looking at Wells hopefully.

"To answer that question, we have to understand how she works, and to understand that, first we have to study her in action," Wells replied.

"You want her to blow stuff up," Cisco said, realizing. "Yes, now we're talking," he exclaimed, excitedly banging his elbow on the table.

"Not in here. She's too unstable," Wells replied.

"I know," Cisco said defensively.

"I know you know," Wells said with a smile.

"So this is your life now, huh? Testing people like me?" Bette asked, looking at Caitlin.

" _Stopping_ people like you," Caitlin corrected her. There weren't a lot of nice meta-humans out there. That much she knew by now. "It's not what I thought I'd be doing," she said, dialing back her tone a little. And it was true – she was a trained neurosurgeon and was supposed to be a bio-engineer for S.T.A.R. labs before the explosion. And most importantly, she was supposed to be married right now to the man she loved. "Actually, aside from Hayley, you're the first meta-human that we've tested."

" _Meta-human_?" Bette asked, looking at her confused.

"It's just a term," Caitlin replied with a kind smile. She carefully pulled up Bette's sleeve and looked at her shocked when she noticed the bleeding gash on her upper arm. "Oh my God, what happened? Why didn't you say that you were shot?"

"It just graze," Bette replied with a shrug. She had been a soldier in Afghanistan after all.

"There's something in there," Caitlin noted as she grabbed a pair of tweezers and pulled a small electronic device out of her wound. The rest of the team looked at it curiously, their interest in the women's conversation suddenly peaking.

"A tracker," Bette said, eyes wide as she looked at Caitlin.

In the same moment, the alarms went off and the feed of the security cameras popped up on the computer screen. It showed General Eiling entering the building with a couple of lackeys in tow.

"Lock down the pipeline. Get Bette and Hayley out of here. I'll take care of Eiling," Wells ordered them, looking specifically at Dean, Sam and Hayley.

"Me and Sam stay here. We can help you with this," Dean said determinedly. For some reason, he didn't like the idea of Eiling and Wells alone. He couldn't trust either of their intentions.

"I don't think this would be the best approach, Mr. Winchester. Seeing as you and your brother pose as fake FBI agents," Wells replied with a smile.

"He's right, Dean. Might be the fastest way to blow our cover," Sam agreed and Dean frowned.

"Fine."

* * *

While Wells took care of Eiling, the team soon found themselves at the test field again. It was on the outskirts of the city and the badlands, and the only place where the team could conduct tests on meta-humans without being seen by civilians. It was also the place, where over a year ago Hayley had first tested out her powers, more or less successful.

Cisco handed Bette a Frisbee and she threw it up in the air. As it had reached its highest point, it exploded.

"427 kPa's. Her Trauzl rating is around 45," Cisco said, looking at his screen. "That's the same as any plastique. _Plastique_. Ha…first try!" He said thrilled as he had just found the perfect name for another meta-human.

"Didn't really think this one through, did you?" Dean asked, lifting his brow at him as he held up a boomerang that was scattered among other throw-able things and Cisco shrugged at him with a snigger.

"Downrange, insurgents started booby trapping cars. The rest of my tour, I was terrified to touch another vehicle," Bette said as she walked a feet away with Hayley. "Now, I'm gonna spend the rest of my life terrified to touch another human being." Hayley looked at her sadly. She couldn't imagine what it must feel like having powers like that, not being able to touch the ones you love without killing them.

"Have they tried to help you?" Bette looked at her hopeful.

"Yeah, they've helped me learn how to use my powers…not reverse them," Hayley replied honestly.

"If they could reverse it so you weren't a meta-human, would you?" Bette asked. No one had ever actually asked her that question, but it was a question she had thought a lot about. Being normal had its perks, but all the evil in this world wouldn't just disappear if she didn't have them.

"A friend told me I was given my speed for a reason…that I was maybe chosen," she said, glancing over at Dean with a smile. "I don't know if I believe that, but I always wanted to help people. Now I can," Hayley replied with a smile.

* * *

While the others returned to the lab, Cisco and Dean had managed to sneak away. It hadn't been easy to come up with a believable excuse and it was getting harder every single time they met up with Joe in secret, working on Hayley's mother's case. Especially with Cisco on board now, they had just added another person that they had to cover for.

It was already dawning outside when the three of them came back to the Allen house and Joe closed the front door behind them with a sigh.

"I sent Sherry to the movies," Joe informed them, obviously a little exhausted by the woman's antics.

"Trust me, the best show in town is going to be in here tonight," Cisco said, beaming at them and Dean noticed that scientists had a habit of getting excited over tragic things, Hayley being the same way.

"So you're telling me you can get actual photographs from this thing?" Dean asked him, gesturing at the mirror and the beamer Cisco had set up earlier.

"The science is solid. It works exactly like an old film camera. I developed the mirror backing, and fortunately for us, the lightning went off about ten times that night," Cisco explained.

"Multiple exposures," Joe realized.

"Now you're getting it. I went ahead and enhanced them digitally and, just for kicks, decided to extrapolate a 3-D hologram from the original 2-D," Cisco said, a proud smile on his face.

"Cisco," Joe hurried him warningly.

"Lights. Camera. Action," Cisco said with a nod, turning off the lights and switching on the beamer.

Hayley's mother appeared in the middle of the living room, screaming for help while a blur of yellow and red surrounded her and looking more closely, Dean could almost see a face in the yellow blur.

"Wow," Dean mumbled, watching the clip show mesmerized. It almost felt like he had been there that night and it made him think of Hayley, who had actually been there, watching this whole scene unfold when she was only just eleven years old.

"Can you play it again? Slower?" Joe asked, looking at Cisco and he played it again, frame by frame.

"There, there. You see that?" Joe asked, gesturing at the two speedsters in the hologram.

"Huh. Next frame," Dean said, looking more closely at the two blurs before he walked over to the opposite site of the room, standing in front of a wall that showed holographic blood spatter. "You said they renovated this place?"

"Yeah, this wallpaper's new," Joe said and Dean pulled of a little of the paper, revealing the real blood spatter underneath it.

"Oh, man. Is that blood?" Cisco asked as he walked over to them.

"We had a husband who was holding the same weapon that killed his wife. We weren't looking for any other suspects," Joe said, looking shocked.

"That blood belongs to one of the two speedsters that was here that night. Maybe the one that killed Hayley's Mom," Dean said, looking at them.

"I'll get a sample kit," Cisco said and they nodded at him.

* * *

"Hey, what's wrong? Did Eiling find out you're here?" Dean asked Bette as he entered the med bay of S.T.A.R. labs. The redhead looked depressed and stared sadly down at her feet while the team sat miserably scattered around her. He had given Cisco a half hour head start to avoid any awkward questions.

"No. Caitlin was about to give me the not-so-good news," Bette replied and Dean glanced back up at Caitlin.

"The shrapnel in your body has merged with you on a cellular level," Caitlin explained, a sad undertone in her voice.

"And the technology required to unsplice your DNA…it hasn't been invented yet," Dr. Wells added.

"Can't you guys just invent it?" Dean asked and Wells looked at him with a small smile.

"I'm afraid that's not possible yet, Mr. Winchester," Wells said and for a moment, Dean felt disappointed. He had hoped a little that the team would be able to reverse Bette's powers and maybe even reverse his brother's.

"Bette. It's okay," Hayley said, comfortingly placing a hand around her shoulder.

"Roger that. I just need a minute. Don't worry," Bette said, tears filling her eyes as she jumped off the metal table she had been sitting on. "Pretty sure I can cry without blowing stuff up," she said and disappeared.

"What now?" Sam asked and Hayley looked at him.

"She joins us. Becomes a part of the team," Hayley suggested determinedly.

"Hayles, you have an amazing ability to help people," Sam said.

"Yeah, and she makes things explode," Dean added.

"She's the first meta-human not hell-bent on destroying this city," Hayley argued. Well, technically Mike wasn't hell-bent on destroying Central City either. The problem was that he wasn't hell-bent on doing anything.

"It's too dangerous," Wells agreed with the brothers.

"Well, she's not going in the pipeline," Hayley said, looking up at the brothers.

"I'm not suggesting she go in the pipeline," Dean said and Hayley looked at him shocked. "What?"

"We're not killing her either," Hayley told him indignantly.

"Well, what else do you wanna do with her? She can't go anywhere, she can't stay here…," Dean pointed out and Hayley interrupted him.

"Why not?"

"If she were to remain at S.T.A.R. Labs, it would put all of us at risk," Dr. Wells cut in.

"From who? Eiling?" Hayley asked, looking at him now.

"Eiling is a dangerous man, Dr. Allen. We do not want him as an enemy," Wells cautioned her and she let out a frustrated breath.

"After the lighting bolt, what if you hadn't found me?" She asked suddenly, looking at them. "It could've been me…hunted, on the run, cut off from everyone I know and care about. You guys saved me," she said and the brothers realized Hayley had been connected to the three of them more than they had known.

"And I want to save her just as bad as you do, Hayley. We all do," Caitlin replied, smiling warmly at her and she nodded.

"Where's Bette?" Hayley asked, noticing the redhead's absence after a while. She had been gone for a long time.

"She left," Dr. Wells informed them as he came back into the cortex after having checked the other rooms.

"What do you mean? Where did she go?" Sam asked.

"I don't know," he replied.

"Well, where the hell could she be?" Dean asked and Hayley jumped in front of him, pushing him out of the way before she sat down at the computer, typing away.

"I got back on the military feed. Looks like they've gone to the waterfront to rendezvous with Bette," Hayley said, looking at the screen.

"She's turning herself in," Sam said.

"She's not turning herself in," Dean said and the three shared a look.

"Let's go," Hayley said and the brothers nodded.

* * *

When the Impala came to a stop at the waterfront, the three could already make out the big military jeeps, parked only a few feet away from them. They got out of the car quietly, sneaking up closer, and hid behind a couple of bushes.

"All over the world, people are plotting to destroy our country. To end our lives. Brave American soldiers are gonna die in that fight, but they don't have to. Because of you, we could have victory," General Eiling said as he took a few steps closer to Bette.

"All I've ever wanted was to make the world a safer place. And it will be when you're not in it," Bette said, throwing a few silver balls in Eiling's direction that she had held it her hands. There were several little explosions, throwing Eiling and his soldiers to the ground.

Hayley raced to Bette, coming to a halt in front of her. She was wearing her suit, hood up and masked, to make sure Eiling would never be able to find her.

"What are you doing here?" Bette asked, looking at her panicked.

"Being a soldier doesn't mean you're a murderer. Don't become one now," Hayley pleaded with her. She knew Bette was a good person and she would defend that opinion until her last breath.

She heard a shot was fired, but it was too late. The bullet hit Bette in the stomach and she fell to the ground. She looked back at the direction of where the shot came from and saw Eiling, lying on the ground and gun in hand.

"I'm sorry. I didn't see him," Hayley said as she knelt down beside her, the brothers running out from their hiding space and joining her.

"Don't be. It's not your fault," Bette said. "I'm glad you stopped me."

"I'm gonna get you back to S.T.A.R. labs," Hayley promised her, taking her hand in hers and she could feel her eyes tearing up.

"Hayley, Dr. Wells. He…he…," she stammered out before she closed her eyes for good. Hayley looked confused at her, not knowing what Bette had wanted to tell her and when she glanced up at the brothers, Dean just shrugged at her.

"Guys, we have a problem," Hayley said, activating her speakers.

" _Is Bette okay?_ " Cisco asked.

"No…Eiling killed her," Hayley said sadly. "She's glowing."

"She's gonna detonate," Sam said, realizing, and Dean threw him a shocked look.

" _Oh my God, a mass that size, the explosion, it would be…_ ," Cisco said.

" _Devastating_ ," Caitlin finished worriedly for him.

" _Hayley, you have to get her away from the city_ ," Cisco told her.

"But there's no time," Sam argued, looking at the city's skyline behind him.

"Can I run on water?" Hayley suddenly asked and the brothers shot her a look.

"What?" Dean asked doubtfully.

"I built up enough speed to run up a building," she argued before she turned her attention back to her speakers. "How fast do I need to go to run on water?"

" _Assuming your weight…400 pounds of force per step for vertical suspension. Accounting for fluid drag. Approximately 650 miles an hour_ ," Cisco said.

"You have to outrun the blast or you'll die too," Dean added concerned and she nodded at him before she grabbed Bette in her arms.

It was easier than she had expected. Maybe because running had always been the easiest part for her. The harder part being able to stop and take a breath.

She could feel the water soaking her boots as she raced across the Missouri river. She dropped Bette at the 600 mile marker, making a U-turn back to the shoreline of Central City.

Bette's body exploded, leaving behind a gigantic mushroom cloud, causing the water to form a massive wave, aiming for the waterfront.

Hayley managed to outrun it until she crashed with it on the beach, soaking wet and disappointed. She got back up on her feet, looking back at the explosion on the horizon. She couldn't save her.

* * *

" _Nothing out of the ordinary occurred. The military was simply_ _conducting an underwater weapons test. There is no need for panic or alarm. Central City is safe. I guarantee you_ ," General Eiling said, giving a TV interview on the screen in the cortex. The explosion had been massive enough for people to notice and start asking questions.

"He murdered Bette right in front of me," Hayley said as she turned off the screen, not wanting to look at this man any longer. "And there's nothing we can do to him."

"Powerful men have a way of avoiding consequences," Wells said with a nod.

"You gonna be okay?" Sam asked, walking over to Hayley. He smiled at her softly. He knew this had been hard for her. He knew she had hoped to find an alley in Bette, just like he always hoped he would find one in another psychic. They both had people in their lives that cared for them, but having powers still could make you feel lonely.

"Yeah," she said, not very convincingly.

"You can walk on water. Puts you in pretty interesting company," Sam said with a smile and she managed to smile back at him a little.

"I think I need a drink to that," she said and the brothers chuckled, deciding it was finally time to hit the bar next.

* * *

"Thirsty?" Mike asked with a smile as Iris walked over to him at the bar. Iris had never really liked him to begin with – like father, like daughter. And judging by her angry facial expression Hayley had told her sister about their fight.

"Not particularly," Iris replied and he shrugged.

"Well, I am," Mike replied, downing a self-poured shot. The good thing about being a bartender had always been the drinking during work. I've just found that drinking is the fastest way to get drunk, so…"

"You know this city could really need another hero," Iris said, looking at him.

"So Hayley told you about my powers," Mike said and Iris nodded.

"She's my sister. She tells me everything," Iris said.

"Well, she told me she had powers before she told you," Mike said and bit his tongue immediately. That certainly wasn't the best way to get back into Iris' good grace.

"Yeah, but we already know you're an idiot," Iris retorted, referring to Mike's own long kept secret.

"I'm sorry disappoint you, but fighting meta-humans isn't on my résumé," Mike joked and Iris threw him a stern look.

"Oh that's right, but according to Hayley, beating people up for money is though, right?" Iris said, furrowing her brows at him and he sighed annoyed.

"Hey, Iris? Why don't you two go believe in somebody else? Thanks," Mike snapped at her, earning him a glare.

"I don't believe in you. I've known you and watched you two for way too long now. But she believes in you and for some reason, she has decided that she needs you in her life. You can't just wish everything back to how it was. Hayley isn't the only one who's always running. Guess she was wrong about you," Iris said, turning her back on him and joining her friends in a booth.

He noticed too late that Hayley had entered the bar, walking straight up to him, looking confused after Iris and then back up at him. "What was that about?"

"Oh, you know…I'm out of fruity drinks and Iris just loves those things," Mike said and Hayley rolled her eyes, not noticing his lie.

"Thank God," she sighed before she grabbed behind the bar, getting herself a bottle of whiskey. She didn't bother to get herself a glass.

"Bad day?" He asked and she looked miserably up at him, nodding slightly. "What happened?"

"I made friends with a human bomb who I promised I could help, and then, I couldn't," she sat, uncapping the whiskey and taking a big gulp.

"I'm sorry," Mike said. He didn't like her seeing this upset.

"For what? You didn't do anything," Hayley said, wiping away a tear.

"Which is exactly what I'm sorry for," he told her and she smiled a little.

"You know, sometimes I just wish there was someone else like me…," she said, avoiding to look at him.

"…who understands what you're going through," Mike finished for her. "Yeah, I get that," he said with a chuckle.

"I'm sorry too. For being such an ass to you. I know finding out you have powers can be sorta overwhelming. I guess I just thought we were close enough to tell each other everything," Hayley said and he looked at her.

"We are," he assured her, looking at her sternly. "You know maybe we should talk about this," he suggested after a moment of silence between them and Hayley nodded.

"Yeah, just not tonight. Not really in the mood," she said and his happy face dropped again. "But you know, I always need my morning caffeine intake at Jitters," she added with a smile and he smiled widely back at her.

"I'll be there," he promised.

* * *

Mike closed the bar like usual after the last few drunks had left the place. He cleaned up, swiped the floors and threw out the remaining trash bins in the small alleyway behind the bar, where he had once fought two demons with Hayley and he chuckled at the thought of it.

Central City was full of crazy, but maybe he moved here for a reason and was finally accepting his fate. He had become part of the craziness surrounding this city and instead of fighting it, he would embrace it.

Suddenly a dark van parked at the end, a few men in military uniform stormed out and toward him. He was getting ready for a fight. He knew a few men couldn't hurt him, but before he could even get close, he felt a sting in his neck. He pulled out a tranquilizer dart, looking at it for a brief moment before everything went dark and dizzy.

* * *

She knew she was at Jitters way too early. A sign of her nervousness. But she was determined to do this. She _wanted_ to talk to him. She had been barely able to keep her eyes closed, tossing and turning in her bed until Dean had threatened to shoot her if she didn't stop.

But two hours later and eight coffees later, there was still no sight of Mike anywhere. She let out a frustrated breath. She there would be a good chance that he'd back out from it. The old Mike certainly had. However, something told her that wasn't the case. He had seemed happy about the chance to finally talk, almost excited even and she was determined to not let their friendship go to waste that easy.

She tried him a couple of times on his phone, getting sent to voicemail straight away, before she decided to look for him at the bar.

The bar was closed, not unusual for ten o'clock in the morning, but the doors weren't locked.

"Mike?" She called out into the dark room. "Hey, dude, we were supposed to meat for coffee, remember? Hello, anybody here?" But there was no answer.

She wandered behind the bar, looking for clues about his whereabouts. "Your bike is parked right outside. I know you're still here."

She suddenly noticed the backdoor was open, leading to the alley outside. She immediately ran outside and noticed something shimmering on the ground as the morning sun beamed on it.

"That's weird," she muttered, picking up the small, shiny object.

 _Mike's keys_ , she realized and she knew that something bad had happened.

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Another day, another chapter... ;)

As you probably noticed I used material from both Supergirl and Flash here. Plastique aka Bette was featured in Flash 1x05 and I used some of the dialogue Mon-El and Kara had in Supergirl for Mike/Hayley and changed them a bit because I thought they were hilarious and also necessary for the overall storyline (now and later on...)

Part 2 will follow soon and hopefully you won't have to wait as long to find out if Mike's okay :) (it may take a little longer to write as I injured my right hand at work yesterday, silly me. Or it could also be here pretty fast because I'm not allowed to work for a few days :D)

I loved writing the Joe, Cisco and Dean scenes in this chapter. The three definitely have great chemistry and I like that Cisco and Dean are becoming friends. They do have some similarities and I can't wait to explore this friendship even more. Same goes for Caitlin and Sam.

So as always - I love you guys tons and thank you so much for your continued support! :)


	5. The Mighty Fall

_On a cobweb afternoon_  
 _In a room full of emptiness_  
 _By a freeway I confess_  
 _I was lost in the pages_  
 _Of a book full of death_  
 _Reading how we'll die alone_  
 _And if we're good, we'll lay to rest_  
 _Anywhere we want to go_

 _In your house I long to be_  
 _Room by room patiently_  
 _I'll wait for you there_  
 _Like a stone_  
 _I'll wait for you there_  
 _Alone_

 _Like a Stone_ by **Audioslave**

* * *

 **5\. The Mighty Fall (X-Over)**

 **Central City, Missouri**

There was a big disadvantage in having super speed. When she was running fast, it meant that everyone and everything around her was standing still. Time had a different meaning to her than everybody else. A second might feel like a minute, a minute like an hour, and so on. Of course in combat, it gave her the best advantage she could ask for. But it was the worst when she was waiting for something. Sometimes one minute could feel like an eternity.

It smelt like bacon and burned toast when she rushed into her apartment. She wasn't used to having company and she couldn't bother to put up with Dean's housewife antics, even though her stomach was growling. She sat down on the kitchen counter and opened her laptop. She needed to focus. She needed to find him. Nothing was more important than that right now.

"Hey Speedy, you want eggs or waffles? Or both. I mean, I guess you eat both…," Dean rambled on. But Hayley didn't glance up from her screen once and he shot Sam a look, who just shrugged.

Dean cleared his throat. Nothing. "Speedy? Hayley!" He finally yelled and she shot up on her seat, looking at him confused.

"What?" She asked, giving the brothers a rather annoyed look.

"Breakfast is ready," Dean retorted, shoving a plate over to her.

"Not hungry," Hayley replied, looking back into her screen. Why couldn't she find anything? No security feeds, no indication of Mike being anywhere.

"Is everything alright with you?" Sam asked her carefully, sharing a look with Dean. Not ever had they thought Hayley wouldn't be hungry. She always said yes to food.

She looked up from her screen, the desperation suddenly written all over her face. They should have known sooner that something was wrong. She exhaled deeply before speaking. "Mike's missing. I've looked everywhere. I've searched the whole city five times already and there's no security footage, no nothing anywhere…"

"Whoa, slow down," Dean interrupted her. A phrase he had to use a lot with her. "How do you know he's missing?"

"We were supposed to meet for coffee this morning, but he never showed. So I checked back at the bar and it was still unlocked. His bike was still there and I found his keys in the alley," Hayley explained.

"Sounds like a kidnapping," Sam agreed.

"Yeah, but who would kidnap him?" Hayley asked.

"Maybe one of those bookies he worked for," Dean mused.

"Yeah, or maybe he owed someone money," Sam suggested.

"Both very likely options," Hayley had to admit with a nod. Of course, Mike would get himself into trouble. It seemed just like him.

"Or…someone might know about his powers and wants to use him," Dean said, glancing carefully at her and he could see her swallow hard. It was definitely the worst case scenario.

"Yeah, but besides us, no one else knows about him," Hayley said, trying to calm her nerves.

"Well, the S.T.A.R. labs team knows, right?" Dean said, already regretting it.

"So? Who of them would have any reason to kidnap Mike?" Hayley replied defensively. "No, it's definitely some bookie."

"Yeah, I'm sure you're right," Sam said, sharing a look with his brother. "We'll find him, don't worry. I'm gonna go back to the bar and see if I can find anything."

"I'll check in at CCPD. See if they have something there that might help us," Dean said.

"Okay, I'll see if I find that guy from the alley yesterday. Maybe he knows something," Hayley said, focusing her eyes back on her screen.

* * *

It was her first day of work and she already had an agenda – search Central City Picture News' files for Nora Allen's murder. The filing room was gigantic, it would take her a while to find what she was looking for, if she could even find anything. She doubted she would find something her sister didn't already know about that night.

A few coffee breaks later, she had found a folder with reports about the murder, but unfortunately nothing new was in it.

"Nora Allen's murder, huh? Didn't her daughter get struck by lightning?" A voice sounded behind her and Iris turned around. A familiar face smiled at her. Not that she had met the man before but she knew him from the news. He was a fellow reporter for CCPN.

"Mason Bridge? Hi, I'm Iris West. It's my first day," Iris introduced herself with a smile.

"I can see that," he replied a little annoyed at her introduction.

"Really? Does it show?" Iris asked, getting a little insecure. She could do this. If her sister could run into burning buildings and save people, she could certainly handle a news room.

"Uh, the fact that I've never seen you here before shows," Mason retorted. "So, your first day and you picked a story about a murder that happened over a decade ago."

"Uh, not really. I was just doing some research for my sister," Iris replied.

"Oh, I see. Private matters. And who is your sister exactly?" Mason asked.

"None of your business," Iris retorted, getting a little fed up with his attitude by now. "Look, I'm not stupid, okay? I know that Larkin hired me because he thinks that I have some sort of in with The Flash. But I am serious about being a journalist," she told him determinedly.

"Why? Because you write a blog? My mother writes a blog," he teased her.

"I may not have a lot of experience, but I do have…," Iris started to defend herself, but was interrupted again.

"Spunk? Grit? Gumption?" Mason mocked her and Iris narrowed her eyes at him. "What is this, a Chick-Lit novel?"

And with that he left.

* * *

He felt a little guilty he wasn't actually looking for Mike like he had promised her to. But they still had to run a blood analysis and what better time to do that when Hayley was occupied with something else.

"Okay, what have you got so far?" Dean asked as he entered the lab at CCPD, joining Cisco and Joe over at the computer.

"Well, we definitely got two different blood samples," Cisco replied as he looked at the screen.

"One for each speedster," Joe said thoughtfully. It had confirmed his theory. Someone else was there that night and brought Hayley to safety.

"That's right. One is A-positive, and the other one's AB-negative…super rare. I'm gonna run them both through the CCPD criminal database to see if I get any matches," Cisco declared.

"Can you run them against a specific person?" Dean asked and Joe threw him a look.

"Yeah, sure, if we have something to match it to. Who are we looking at?" Cisco replied nonchalantly, ready to type in a name.

"Dr. Harrison Wells," Joe replied and the room fell silent for a minute. Cisco turned around slowly on the swiveling chair, facing the two of them.

"I thought we were trying to solve Hayley's mom's murder," Cisco said carefully, looking at them confused.

"We are," Dean replied hesitantly. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything. The worst thing that could happen now was Cisco telling Hayley about their investigation.

"And I'm asking you to keep this between us," Joe added, looking at Cisco sternly, obviously reading Dean's mind.

"You two think Dr. Wells killed Hayley's mom? No way! He didn't even know her then. Why would he kill her Mom?" Cisco said, freaking out and getting up from his chair. He started to pace the room, trying to make sense of their accusations. But there was no real explanation behind them. They just knew something was off about Wells, the only question remaining to be answered was _what_.

"We don't know yet. But I do know that Wells keeps secrets. And this may be one of them," Joe said cautiously.

"Dr. Wells is a great man. I was nothing when he gave me a job…a chance to change my life. He has helped so many people. He's not a murderer," Cisco defended him and Joe sighed.

"Cisco, I'm a cop. I'm good at reading people, so I know I can trust you with my suspicion. When I go talk to the family and friends of a murder suspect, somebody I _know_ is guilty, and I tell them the person they love is a killer, guess what they all say – _that's not the person I know_ ," Joe said, looking at him.

"I think I'm done being a cop for today," Cisco replied quietly and left the lab.

"We need to tell Hayley," Dean urged, looking at Joe. If Cisco told her now what they had been up to, she would definitely change her policy about killing people, starting with him.

"No," Joe replied.

"Cisco might tell her and then she's really gonna get pissed," Dean argued.

"I said _no_ ," Joe replied, a stricter tone in his voice. "If you tell her about any of this, I will go Floyd Mayweather on you, you understand me, son?" And Dean nodded. "Cisco's gonna come around. Don't worry."

* * *

His head still felt dizzy when he woke up to a dripping sound. It was cold as he felt the goosebumps on his arms and he shivered a little before he opened his eyes. It was dark and as his eyes adjusted, he could make out a dark grey room. He glanced over to a corner where the dripping noise came from and noticed a leaking pipe as drops of water fell into a little pool on the ground.

"Glad you're up, Mr. Matthews," a low voice said and he turned his head around to a dark silhouette sitting across the room from him. He got up from his chair and walked closer to him, a smile on his face.

The man was older and grey-haired, wearing a military uniform. He realized this might not be a good thing and tried to get out from the chair he was sitting in before he noticed his hands and feet were tied to it with metal cuffs.

"You know, thank you for your hospitality. This was nice, but I gotta go now. Kinda have an appointment," Mike joked before trying to rip off his ties, but without any luck. There wasn't much that could hold him these days and those metal cuffs sure had seemed easily breakable at first. He realized they must have been expecting him, whoever they were.

The room was empty except for a few strange machines and the chair he was sitting on. Not much clues to go by and he wondered if the guy in front of him was really military.

"You can try, but I'm afraid you won't get far. I had those cuffs specially made for someone like you," the man replied with a satisfied smile.

"Someone like me? I think you're confusing me with someone. Since this is all a big misunderstanding, why don't we just forget about it, huh?" Mike said, but he knew even he couldn't charm his way out of this one.

"Don't sell yourself short, Mr. Matthews. We've been keeping an eye on you and your speedster girlfriend for a while now," the man said.

"Well, if you've really done that, you'd know she's not my girlfriend," Mike retorted.

"You two can discuss this when we get her here," the man replied with a smirk.

"What do you want with us, huh?" Mike asked angrily.

"Soldiers," he replied simply and Mike looked at him confused. "Someone with your…abilities. Imagine that on the battlefield. Soldiers that are both strong and fast. An unstoppable army for any kind of war."

"Oh, I see. You're going with the classics," Mike teased him, rolling his eyes.

"Joke all you want. After we're done with testing, I'm sure there will be less of that," he replied, smiling. "All I need now is just to combine both your DNA."

"Coming from someone who tried to combine DNA with her for years, I wish you good luck with that," Mike retorted, but the man just smirked at him in response.

* * *

 _ **Flashback, 5 years ago**_

 **Boston, Massachusetts**

 _Dammit,_ she cursed in her head as she closed down the campus' coffee shop, where she just had finished her shift. She was supposed to meet her study group at the library across town and she was late again. Not only that, but it had also started to pour and she was soaking wet from head to toe. She pulled her hoodie of her red raincoat over her head, but it was no use. Her hair was already wet and the water dripped from her bangs down her cheeks as she locked up the shop.

Usually she would have walked across town, but it was close to midterm exams and she didn't want to run the risk of catching a cold. She found a cab on the other side of the street and hurried over to it, the driver already spotting her.

She reached the handle of the backseat door, opening it when someone jumped in front of her and got into the cab.

"Hey! What the hell? That's my cab!" She protested, but the guy just smirked at her. He was young and athletic, wearing a dark red hoodie with Greek letters on it. She sighed. _Frat boy_.

"Oh, is your name written on it? I didn't realize," he replied with a grin.

"No…,but," she replied, thinking of a defeating argument.

"Well, darn it. Guess you have to catch another one then," he replied without a care.

"Oh, come on! It's fucking raining and I'm late for my study group," Hayley complained, trying to gather some sympathy.

"How again is that my problem? Anyways, I really have to get to this party now. They already started the strip beer pong without me," he replied and closed the door.

"Hey!" She called after him, banging her hands against the door before the cab left her behind.

She exhaled deeply, trying to contain her sudden outburst of anger as her cellphone rang, interrupting her thoughts. "Iris? Yeah, I'm on my way."

* * *

Jitters was quiet this time of day. Everyone already had their morning coffee intake and was working off that energy. Except her. She hadn't found a single trace of Mike yet and all she could do now was sit around and wait.

Iris came into Jitters with a similar grim face, which surprised her sister. Wasn't it supposed to be her first day as a reporter?

"No, no, no, I am having the worst day ever. We both can't be having the worst day ever, okay? I was really looking forward to getting some good complaining in," Iris said as she sat down across from her sister and Hayley quietly shoved Iris's coffee over to her.

"Well, fire away," she replied. Maybe it was best Iris blew off some steam first.

"Okay, well, I looked into your Mom's case today," Iris started and Hayley looked up at her.

"Did you find anything?" She asked hopefully, but Iris shook her head.

"No, sorry. I did run into Mason Bridge though, who is a legend, who I admired, before he told me I was a worthless, talentless millennial," Iris said and let out a frustrated breath. "So, I'm screwed."

"No, look…if this Mason guy doesn't see what a talented journalist you are, then he's probably a lousy writer," Hayley pointed out, trying to make her feel better.

"He won the Pulitzer…twice, I think," Iris replied nonchalantly and Hayley nodded.

"Oh. Good for him," Hayley said and the sisters started laughing.

"Worst part is, I think they only hired me because I have an in with the Flash, which granted I do," Iris said, gesturing at Hayley, who grinned satisfied at her.

"But you've been an amazing writer before the Flash even existed. You wrote for the high school paper and in college. I still have a folder full with all your articles," Hayley said with a smile.

"Thanks, Hales. Having someone believe in me, it's, uhm…a small, really, really big thing," Iris replied, smiling back.

"Well, you do the same for me all the time."

"So, what's up with you?" Iris asked.

"Mike's missing," she finally said. Sometimes not saying it out loud made it less real. She had tried to find him. She couldn't.

"What?! What happened?" Iris asked with wide eyes.

"We don't know yet. We were supposed to meet this morning and he never showed," Hayley explained. She still tried to retrace his steps but she had no idea what he did after she saw him last night. She should have stayed and talked to him then, maybe this wouldn't have happened.

"Okay, you win. Your day sucks worse," Iris mumbled before getting up from her chair and getting them some sweets from the counter – she had always been a stress eater.

The brothers entered Jitters and walked over to Hayley. Their faces looked miserable and she knew immediately they hadn't found anything either.

"Nothing?" She asked and they shook their heads in unison.

"No," Sam replied. "There was no trace of him at the bar. It's like a hole opened up and swallowed him."

"Yeah, nothing at CCPD either. And I talked to that guy, Al, from the alley yesterday. He doesn't know anything either and he swore he told no one," Dean said.

"Did he know who hired Mike?" Hayley asked.

"Uh, yeah. A toy store owner. Apparently Al has a thing for dolls and never paid him, so he hired Mike," Dean replied.

"So, you think the toy store owner runs an underground meta-human crime empire?" She mused.

"Doubt it. The guy is 83 and has asthma," Dean replied and Hayley let out a frustrated breath. She knew it had been a stretch, but she had just been hoping for something.

"God! I wish there would at least be a sign!" She exclaimed, throwing her head back. She looked back up at them. Their faces standing by helplessly as she noticed little red dots appearing on their chests.

"What?" Dean asked as he noticed Hayley's eyes growing wider. He knew that look.

"Down!" She shouted and before the brothers could even obey her demand, she grabbed them and they found themselves laying on the floor as glass shattered above their heads.

The people around them fled, screaming as a few of them got hit by tranquilizer darts. "You guys alright?" She asked, looking at them.

They nodded. "Yeah, let's get out of here. The car's parked outside," Dean said, gesturing to the front door.

"Iris," Hayley mumbled worriedly as she looked around the room. She spotted Iris, hiding behind the counter across from her.

"Go get Iris. We get the car and wait for you two around the alley," Dean told her and she nodded before she raced off.

Soldiers started to storm the little coffee shop while Dean and Sam snuck out the front door to get the Impala ready.

Hayley grabbed Iris, her sister hugging her tightly while she sped them outside through the backdoor. She let go of Iris in the alley behind Jitters, already hearing car tires.

But instead of the roaring noise of the Impala, she was greeted by a military truck. General Eiling stepped out of the vehicle, clothed in full military combat uniform. Her smile faded and it suddenly dawned on her, who might have kidnapped Mike.

"Hands in the air!" She heard soldiers shout as they stormed out of the truck behind Eiling.

"Dr. Allen. I believe we haven't been officially introduced," Eiling said as he walked closer to her with a smirk. "General Wade Eiling. United States Army."

"Hayley Allen, CSI at CCPD," she introduced herself with smirk, not letting Iris out of her sight, who stood not far behind her. He chuckled at her introduction. "What do you want from me?"

"Oh, I think we both know you are so much more than just a CSI, Dr. Allen…or should I say, _Flash_?" Eiling said with a smirk. "I might have something that you want. A Mr. Matthews? I'm willing to work out an agreement if you are. Of course if you are unwilling, well, then we just might keep you both."

She considered her options. She could hand herself over, hoping Eiling would stick to his promises, which was unlikely to say the least. So it had to be Plan B – fight.

She stormed towards the group of soldiers, hitting them like a bowling ball striking down pins until there was only Eiling left. But before she got to him, he threw a little metal cube into the air. Thousands of needles fell out of the little box, aiming only for her. No matter where she moved, they seemed to be tracking her and there was no way to ourun them this time.

The needles stung her skin, she could feel them everywhere as she fell to the ground. The blood dripped from the little holes in her skin as Eiling towered above her. "Stings, doesn't it? Had that one developed especially for you. Micro fragments attracted to kinetic energy," Eiling explained with a satisfied grin.

She knew it was game over. She would end up as Eiling's personal lab rat. Just like Bette had and now Mike. And then there it was – the familiar sound of an old car coming from behind her. She spun her head around as she watched the brothers storm out of the car. Both took a shot at Eiling before Sam grabbed Iris, getting her safely into the Impala.

Eiling started to shoot back at the brothers as Dean gave Sam cover before he took another shot at Eiling, hitting his shoulder and the big older man in front of her dropped to the ground next to her. With the last strength she had, she sped away from Eiling and Dean stormed over to Hayley while the general gathered back his composure.

Dean grabbed her in one swift motion and she gasped in pain in his arms. There was no way he could carry her without driving the needles deeper into her skin, not to mention his own.

Eiling recovered soon enough, taking aim at them as Dean rushed back to the Impala. He shot a few more times at the general before he ran out of bullets. He threw Hayley in the backseat as Eiling and his soldiers got back into their truck. "Sam! Start the car!" He ordered his little brother and jumped into the passenger's seat before they drove off with screeching wheels.

* * *

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" She shrieked as Caitlin carefully removed another needle. The team had gathered at S.T.A.R. labs and were tending to Hayley's injuries while discussing their next move.

"You need to hurry, Hayley's wounds are starting to heal with the fragments still under her skin," Dr. Wells said as he watched them carefully.

"This is just like that time I stepped on a sea urchin," Cisco said and Hayley threw him a look. "Only much worse," he corrected himself.

"Just don't pee on me," Hayley mumbled with a pout.

"Uh, you know that's a myth, right?" Cisco said, giving her a look.

"I should have known it was Eiling who took Mike from the beginning," Hayley said frustrated as Caitlin kept pulling out needles. Her butt had been the worst yet. Luckily, all there was left now were her arms.

"Not your fault, Hayley," Sam said comfortingly. But it certainly felt like her fault. Wasn't she the one who dragged Mike into this in the first place?

"Yeah, how could you have known? Bigger question is how could Eiling have known about you two?" Dean asked and glanced over to Wells. But he just sat there unsuspectingly.

"He thought Bette held the key to the ultimate human weapon…he certainly must have thought the same last time he saw the Flash," Dr. Wells mused.

"You think Eiling had me followed after the explosion?" Hayley asked, looking at him.

"Possible…or he had the two FBI agents on scene followed," Wells said, looking at the brothers and Dean gave him a stern look. Somehow Wells' words sounded like a threat. Like he could turn Hayley against them with a snap of his fingers. Who would she be more loyal to? After all, Cisco's choice had been clear.

"Let's just finish this and find out where Eiling keeps Mike," Hayley said, changing the subject. She glanced at Dean for a moment. His arms were filled with little needle holes. They must have stung him too when he had carried her. She twitched and blinked her eyes away as she felt another sting when Caitlin got the last needle out of her skin.

* * *

He didn't know how long he had been here. It felt like days when General Eiling returned to the military base. He had been transported into a cell, not one soul telling him how long he was supposed to be in it. He thought about starting to count the days, but he didn't even know if it was daytime or nighttime, so what was the use?

He had been sitting on the cold concrete floor of his little cell for God knows how long when Eiling finally showed up. He jumped up, walking over to the metal bars to face his tormentor. He had tried to rip apart these metal bars several times, but they seemed to have been made from the same material as his cuffs.

"Mr. Matthews, hope you got acquainted with your new home," Eiling said with a smirk.

"You son of a bitch," Mike cursed under his breath. He could punch a hole into the wall, but he knew it wouldn't do him any good. In fact, he had no idea how his powers even worked or where his limits were. He realized he should have listened to Hayley when he had the chance. Now because of him, they both would probably end up here.

"I see you're getting angry, Mr. Matthews. Good. My research team tells me your powers are tied to your anger and I for one, would love to see what else you got. Frankly, I was growing concerned your mind might be too weak. Unlike your little girlfriend's, who's quite feisty," Eiling said with a grin and Mike looked up at him.

"Shut up," Mike warned him through gritted teeth.

"Now I can see why it doesn't seem to work out between the two of you," Eiling teased him.

"I said, shut up!" Mike yelled at him this time, but Eiling just laughed in his face.

"You know I just visited her," Eiling continued.

"I swear if you touch her, I'm gonna kill you," he threatened Eiling, but the general just replied with a smirk.

"Don't worry. I don't have to go after her anymore. Pretty sure Ms. Allen is going to come to me all on her own," Eiling said.

"Yeah, good luck. She's not that stupid. And she doesn't care about me, so your plan won't work," Mike argued.

"Oh, Mr. Matthews, let's just agree to disagree," Eiling replied before he turned to a couple of soldiers next to him. "Take him back to the interrogation room. Let's see if he feels like cooperating now."

* * *

 _ **Flashback, 5 years ago**_

 **Boston, Massachusetts**

There were only two reasons Hayley Allen would attend a college frat party. Reason A, her sister Iris had forced her to go to one, because the cute guy at the campus coffee shop invited her to one. Reason B, she was broke and needed to make some money.

Frat parties were usually loud, filled with drunk boys and girls, too busy letting their hormones decide who to take home with them. Some would even say it was the perfect hideout for an underground business operation.

She had sat up her laptop on the floor, crossing her legs in front of her as the lights of the screen mirrored in her glasses. "Well Jeremy, congrats you're officially an A+ student," Hayley said and looked up at the tall blonde guy standing in front of her. Jeremy had been a customer for years now. He wasn't the smartest pea in the pot, but who was she to judge? Because of Jeremy, she had been able to afford a faster CPU for her computer and complete her master thesis in no time. "That'd be 200 bucks, champ."

"Man, you're getting expensive," he complained with a sigh before handing her the money.

"Well, you know what's cheap, Jer? Studying," she joked and he shook his head before she saw him magnetically being drawn to a keg behind her.

"That makes a total of $2,000. I think we can call it a night," Felicity suggested next to her and Hayley agreed with a satisfied nod. "Plus, I'm getting nauseous from that guy with the bong next to me."

"Yeah, let's get outta here," Hayley said and closed her laptop.

"Hey, hey, wait a second!" She heard someone yell across the room before a guy sprinted towards them. "Are you the girls that hack grades?" The tall dark-haired guy asked and Hayley kept staring at him. She would have recognized that stupid face anywhere.

"Yeah, we were just about to close up actually, but we sure could squeeze in one more," Felicity replied, but Hayley held out an arm at her to stop her friend from saying more.

"No, we actually can't," Hayley interrupted her, feigning an apologetic face at the guy in front of her.

"We can't?" Felicity raised her brows questioningly at Hayley.

"We have more important plans than to keep hanging out at a stupid frat party," Hayley retorted. The guy turned surprised at her before he looked back at Felicity.

"Why do I get the feeling she is mad at me?" He whispered to Felicity, who simply shrugged her shoulders, looking at Hayley.

"I'm not mad at you!" She yelled at him.

"Sure, okay. I'm guessing that's just your charming personality then," he replied.

"Are you telling me you can't remember me? Are you serious?" Hayley kept yelling at him.

"Oh…I'm sorry. Of course, I remember you," he said, chuckling nervously. "I'm sorry if I haven't called you after we…"

"What?! Did you sleep with this guy?" Felicity suddenly asked, her eyes wide.

"What, no!" Hayley replied shocked.

"No, we didn't? Okay, I'm confused now. Why exactly don't you like me?" He asked her, his blue eyes piercing through her.

"You _douche canoe_ stole my fucking cab," Hayley replied through gritted teeth. He stared at her for moment before he burst into full on laughter. "Why the hell are you laughing?"

"Okay, I remember now," he said, a smile crossing his face. "I'm sorry. Really, I am. I'm deeply sorry I stole that cab from you and left you standing in the rain."

"Wait, that's it?" Hayley asked, raising her brows.

"What do you mean, _that's it_? I apologized and now you're supposed to forgive me and we can become friends," he explained and Hayley wasn't even sure if he was being sincere about it. She had to chuckle nonetheless.

"Please, you're just apologizing to get what you want, which probably has worked out for you before, but it won't this time. Come on, Felicity. Let's pack up and go," Hayley told him, turning back to her friend.

"Okay, wait. You're right. I'm a total douche canoe and I deserve all the jokes you and your friend are gonna make about me tonight, but please...help me. If I fail this semester, they're gonna kick me out of college," he explained.

"How again is that my problem?" Hayley repeated his words from their first encounter and left the party.

* * *

The computers at S.T.A.R. labs were running hot, while her mind on the other hand, was running non-stop. Now that she knew Eiling was behind all of this, she had to find Mike. She couldn't bare the thought of what Eiling would do to him. She knew what he had done to Bette, the look in the eyes of the red-haired woman had given away enough. Eiling was a monster. But luckily, her friends were good at hunting monsters.

Instead of sitting around and waiting for her computer to track down Eiling, she stopped by Central City Picture News to occupy herself with the other mystery that had been constantly on her mind for years – her Mom's murder.

"Hey, how are you?" Iris asked as she noticed her sister walking into CCPN's news room.

"All healed up. You?" She asked her sister with a worried look. Eiling could have hurt her. He didn't seem like the man that cared about collateral damage.

"I'm fine. Anything on Mike?" Iris asked, but her sister shook her head slowly. She could feel Hayley was getting tenser the more time had passed.

"I've got all the S.T.A.R. labs satellites looking for Eiling," Hayley replied.

"You're going to find him," Iris assured her hopefully.

"S.T.A.R. labs, huh?" A male voice from behind asked and Iris rolled her eyes with a snort. "You work there, Ms…?"

"Allen," Hayley replied skeptically and looked at the man. From the way her sister had responded to his presence, the man in front of her was probably the infamous Mason Bridge.

"Allen? As in...Hayley Allen, the girl that got struck by lightning?" He asked a little too forward.

"Yup, guess that's me," Hayley replied a little embarrassed. Now she understood why Iris seemed to hate the guy so much.

"What brings you here, Ms. Allen?" He asked with a smile.

"Uhm, just picking up my sister from her first day at work, Mr. Bridge," Hayley replied.

"Your sister? Huh…," he said and shot Iris a look. "You didn't tell me your sister was Hannah Allen's daughter."

"I didn't think it was important who my sister is, Mason," Iris replied.

"It is if she might know something," Mason replied mysteriously and the sisters shared a look.

"Know what?" Hayley asked.

"Tell me, Ms. Allen, what is S.T.A.R. labs doing right now? Planning another particle accelerator explosion?" Mason asked, looking at her.

"What do you mean? The explosion was an accident. And I don't work there. I work at CCPD. We're working with S.T.A.R. labs on a current case," Hayley lied.

"Huh, really? Which one?" Mason asked.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Bridge. I'm afraid I'm not allowed to discuss an open investigation with the press," Hayley replied.

"I think you should leave now, Mason," Iris said, looking firmly at him and he seemed to get the message, backing away from the sisters.

"Sure. Enjoy your evening, ladies. See you tomorrow at work, West," he said before he turned around and left.

The sisters shared another look before letting out a deep breath. Whatever Mason Bridge was looking for, it didn't seem to be too good. She knew that eventually people would start asking questions about S.T.A.R. labs and the Flash, but she'd rather have it another day.

Her phone rang in her pockets and she anxiously picked up. "Dean?" Her heart dropped with relief when she finally heard the words, _we got something_.

When she raced into the cortex at S.T.A.R. labs, the team had all gathered around and their eyes were glued to the computer screen in front of them.

* * *

"What we got?" Hayley asked as she pulled the hoodie of her suit down and pressed herself between the boys to look at the screen herself. Her eyes stared at the blinking red dot on the map.

"We've got Eiling's location," Dean confirmed.

"Yeah, it took a while, but we managed to track him down to an abandoned military base outside St. Louis," Cisco added. "It was closed down years ago by the government because of illegal and inhumane treatment of soldiers."

"Seems like Eiling opened it back up again," Sam said.

"Great, let's go," Hayley said and pulled her hoodie back on.

"Whoa, whoa, you wanna go in there right now?" Dean asked, looking at her.

"Yeah," she replied with a shrug.

"We can't just go in there without a plan," Dean argued.

"Dean's right. Those guys are trained soldiers," Cisco agreed.

"I can't just leave him there! We already wasted enough time. Who knows what Eiling has already done to him! I'm going. _Now_ ," Hayley replied stubbornly.

"Hayley, you're no good to anybody dead," Dean maintained.

"Eiling's not gonna kill me. He needs me. I can use that to my advantage. I can take care of a couple of soldiers and I'm faster than any bullet," Hayley countered. "You two can either come with me or stay here, but I'm going either way."

The brothers shared a long look before Dean looked back at her. "Fine, let's go. I mean let's be honest, at least with us you have a fighting chance of making it out there alive," Dean replied and a smile appeared on her face.

"Thank you."

* * *

 _ **Flashback, 5 years ago**_

 **Boston, Massachusetts**

It had been a long day so far. The coffee shop was busy today and the espresso machine couldn't seem to catch a break while she had been yelled at by practically every student on campus, waiting frantically for their caffeine intake before their next exam. She hated this time of the year when sweat and panic lingered in the usually fresh campus air.

She frowned when her favorite new person walked into the shop that day. By the way he was looking around the shop, she knew he wasn't just here for coffee.

"Oh, look, it's douche canoe. What can I do for you?" Hayley asked with a smirk and he pretended to laugh at her joke.

"I'd take a coffee to go, please and your help with a certain problem I'm having," he replied, carefully looking around to make sure no one could hear them.

"Sure thing. That be $2,90 and for the other thing, I'd try Viagra," she joked with a wink.

"Very funny," he replied with a false chuckle. "Please help me. I'm really desperate here, okay?" He pleaded with her and she was surprised he wasn't on his knees yet.

"I can see that. Name?" She asked and he looked up at her surprised.

"What?"

"Your name," she repeated with an eye roll. "Geez, no wonder you're failing college."

"Uh, Mike," he replied when he realized she needed a name to write on the cup.

"Douche canoe, got it," she replied with a grin and he sighed.

"So are you telling me there is nothing I can do to change your mind?" Mike asked and she looked at him for a moment, considering her options.

"Depends. Are you going to keep annoying me?" Hayley asked.

"Count on it," Mike replied confidently and she sighed frustrated.

"Fine," Hayley agreed through gritted teeth.

"Really? Thank you. You are the best," Mike said with a happy smile.

"Yeah, yeah...I know. That'd also be 500 bucks," Hayley replied with a smirk.

"500? That dude at the party only paid 200," Mike argued.

"Yeah, it's called a dipshit cut," Hayley retorted with a shrug and he laughed at that.

"Okay, 300 and I invite you to dinner. You like food, right?" Mike suggested and she looked at him before nodding hesitantly.

"I like pizza," Hayley responded thoughtfully.

"Great, I know the best pizza place in town. You know I love pizza too, isn't that funny?" Mike said with a charming smile.

"Yeah, stop the apple-polishing, I already said yes," Hayley replied with a chuckle.

"Yeah sure, got it. When's your shift over?" He asked.

"I get off at eight," she replied non-chalantly.

"Okay then, see you at eight," Mike replied with a smile before he left the coffee shop again and Hayley just shook her head in response. Free food had always been a weakness of hers.

* * *

The Impala came to a stop not far from a container-like building. They had arrived at Military base #23 and were looking around for any guards or cameras.

"Seems clear to me," Sam said.

"You're sure it's the right one?" Hayley asked from the backseat and the brothers turned around to her.

"Yeah. At least that's the one we tracked Eiling too," Dean replied.

"Okay, I'm going in. Wait here," Hayley ordered them.

"Wait a second, Speedy. There's no damn way you're going in there alone," Dean argued, grabbing her wrist before she could disappear out of the car.

"Dean, someone needs to stay here and keep watch. Eiling knows about you two, so he's probably expecting you. It's too risky. I'll call when I need back up," she said and with that, she snuck out of Dean's grip and all they could do now was watch as a bolt of lightning vanished into the facility.

"Dammit," Dean muttered under his breath.

"Yeah, but she's right. There isn't much we could do in there. We don't exactly have military weapons, Dean," Sam reasoned.

"I have a grenade launcher in the trunk," Dean argued and Sam threw him a look.

"Dean…," Sam reprimanded his older brother, who rolled his eyes back.

"Fine," Dean agreed and focused his eyes back on the building in front of him.

* * *

She had managed to sneak inside the military base without getting noticed yet. There were a couple of soldiers stationed at the entrance and knew she was definitely at the right place. She hid behind a corner, watching the two guards closely before she activated her speakers.

"Cisco? Can you hear me?" She whispered.

" _We're here, boss,_ " Cisco replied and she sighed relieved.

"You got a blueprint of this place?" Hayley asked and she could hear Cisco typing something into the computer.

" _Yeah, you're at the east wing of the building. If you go straight and then left, you should come to the old prison cells. I think that's where they're keeping Mike_ ," Cisco told her.

"Okay, thanks," Hayley replied. She looked around the corner again, the guards still standing on their respective posts, not having moved an inch.

She looked for something to throw before she eventually found a pack of gum. She tossed it into the corridors and the guards obviously had noticed it as they began to chatter. She sped past them and as they ducked down to take a closer look at the gum on the floor, she waited behind them and smashed their heads together, immediately knocking them out.

"Well, that was easy," she mumbled before she could hear footsteps coming from the other side of the hallway. Three more soldiers turned up around the corner, walking straight towards her. It was too late to run and she knew it. One of the soldiers looked directly at her.

"Hands in the air! Don't move!" He commanded her, getting his rifle ready, the others following suit.

She raised her arms a little, pretending to play along. "Sorry, boys. But I really can't do that," she said, almost apologetically before she sped over to the three men and knocked them out faster than they could even blink. Suddenly the alarm in the building went off, making it clear, Eiling knew she had arrived.

* * *

His heartbeat was fast, his breathing heavy. He didn't know how long it had been since Eiling had thrown him into this chair. It had been comparatively comfortable in the beginning. Eiling had ordered his minions to hit him with different materials until his face felt numb. When they were done with that, they continued on with chemicals. His mind was still spinning from all the substances they injected him with. His skin burned on the places they had tested different acids on him. He didn't even know what half of this stuff was and honestly, he didn't want to know.

But all of that had been rather easy compared to what came after the tests. When Eiling had gotten what he wanted from his body, he moved on to his mind. He kept asking him the same questions. Who else was working with the Flash? How much did Wells know? Were there others out there like him?

He didn't have answers to any of them and even if he did, he wouldn't have told Eiling. And every time Eiling heard another no from him, he would grab a stun gun baton and a jolt of electricity would rip through him. Sometimes Eiling would continue this for minutes or until he passed out from all the pain. He wasn't sure how much of it he could take anymore when suddenly an alarm went off and red emergency lights started to flicker above their heads.

Eiling looked up and nodded to a few soldiers, who then ran upstairs in a hurry. Eiling spun around to him with a big smirk on his face. "Looks like your girlfriend finally made it," Eiling said satisfied before turning back to one of his soldiers, handing him the stun gun. "Give him a few more before throwing him back into his cell. Maybe he's even still alive when she finds him."

Eiling then followed the other soldiers upstairs before Mike was hit with another jolt.

* * *

 _ **Flashback, 5 years ago**_

 **Boston, Massachusetts**

"You know for someone who claims to love pizza, I can't believe you've never been here. This place is legendary amongst college students. You get a slice of pizza for a quarter. It's amazing," Mike gushed before he took a big bite from his slice. He had taken her to a little Italian place near campus. She admittedly hadn't been out of her dorm room much. She was more a fan of ordering in.

"So what you're saying is that I'm a cheap date," Hayley replied with a teasing smile.

"Actually I'm saying the opposite, since you've never been here. How long have you lived here again?" Mike asked and even seemed to be genuinely interested.

"Uhm, about four years," she replied, taking a bite from her pizza.

"Wow, so you what, started college at…"

"Fifteen," she replied and giggled when he swallowed a little. She had actually been looking forward to be at normal college age. The first three years had been confusing to say the least.

"How come you've never been here then?" Mike asked.

"I don't know. Guess I've been busy," she replied with a shrug.

"With what? Except running an illegal underground empire at frat parties," Mike joked with a chuckle and she laughed.

"Well, _that_ and...school. I just finished my second master thesis and are now working for my first PhD," Hayley responded.

"You don't seem to care much about that though," Mike noticed and she looked up at him surprised. Barely anyone ever paid that much attention to her, except for her family maybe.

"No, I don't," she replied and he sighed. She smiled at him in response, realizing he seemed to get tired of the twenty questions game. "I guess for me...college's just a tool. Not the end goal."

"So what happens after college?"

"I go back to Central City," she said and finished off her slice of pizza.

"Why? What's back in Central City?" He asked, looking at her.

"My family," she replied, a sad look in her eyes and he decided not to press the issue any further.

Instead they moved on to the bar across the street where Hayley beat him at pool and he beat her at darts. They talked about their favorite movies and the places they'd like to visit someday. They realized they had more in common than they had initially thought. And when he walked her home, he even gave her his jacket because it was freaking November and freezing. And even though, she hated all these things because they reminded her so much of her happily married parents, she still had secretly wished for it. And for the first time, there was someone, who took her mind off long enough of the tragedy surrounding her mother's death. She could actually feel something that was as close to happiness as she could get.

And when they came to a stop in front of her dorm room and he took her face in his hands and looked deeply into her eyes, she kissed him and she could feel little jolts of electricity traveling through her body when he kissed her back.

* * *

"It's been ten minutes. She should have been out by now. Something's wrong," Dean mumbled and slapped his hands on the steering wheel.

"Just give her five more minutes. I'm sure this place is filled with guards and security. Might even take someone as fast as Hayley a while to break in," Sam said, ignoring his older brother's impatience and Dean sighed frustrated. "What's going on with you?"

"What do you mean?" Dean asked, already getting annoyed with his little brother's damn curiosity.

"I mean you seem really worried about Hayley," Sam pointed out, but Dean just shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah, so? She's our friend, Sam. In fact you were the one that insisted we bring her along in the first place. I'm just cleaning up after your mess," Dean argued.

"Oh, really? Then why have you been acting so weird around Hayley for the last few weeks?" Sam countered and Dean glared at him.

"I haven't been acting weird, Sam," Dean snapped.

"Don't you think I notice when you two sneak off?" Sam questioned him and Dean rolled his eyes.

"There's nothing going on between me and Hayley," Dean replied frustrated.

"Then what is going on? Dean…tell me," Sam said, looking up at him. And although Dean tried to play it cool, he was exploding on the inside. Either he would tell Sam the truth about what he and Hayley really talked about in his absence, mainly that Sam might be an evil super powered freak, or he would go with option B.

"Joe opened up an investigation into Hannah Allen's murder case," Dean blabbed out. It was the safest secret he could go with. He had to keep so many secrets these days, his head was starting to get dizzy. It actually felt good to let go of at least one of them for right now.

"Hayley's Mom? Why does he have a lead?" Sam asked, surprised at Dean's revelation. It had been too easy to get that out of his brother.

"Yeah, he thinks Wells had something to do with it," Dean replied and Sam looked at him shocked.

" _Wells_? Are you serious? The guy's in a wheelchair, Dean," Sam argued and Dean threw him a look.

"Yeah, I'm aware Sammy. Look, for all we know the guy could be lying about everything," Dean said.

"What makes you so sure?" His little brother asked.

"I don't know, but the guy's been acting weird from the start. And with Mike getting kidnapped by Eiling…," Dean mused.

"You think Wells had something to do with that?" Sam lifted his brows.

"He knew about Mike and Hayley, and he has worked with Eiling before," Dean said, looking at him. Sam had to admit that Dean's theory actually started to sound more reasonable.

"I guess. Does Hayley know?" Sam asked and Dean looked guiltily at him.

"Look, Joe doesn't want her to know. He asked me for help, so I'm helping," Dean defended himself.

"Dean," Sam said in a reprimanding tone.

"It's not like I don't want to tell her, but Joe's right. We've got zero proof so far that Wells is even involved. And if we did, we still don't know what his endgame is. All Hayley's gonna do is run in unprepared and get herself killed," Dean said.

"Are we still talking about Hayley...or _me_?" Sam looked at him reproachfully.

"Sam," Dean huffed frustrated.

"What?"

"Time's up," Dean said, glancing at his watch. They had no time for an argument right now. "Let's go." He adamantly jumped out of the car, opening the trunk.

Sam shook his head before he followed his brother. They each took their gun and enough ammo, making sure they were all set as they headed into the military base.

* * *

She knew she was close when a few soldiers, headed by Eiling, stormed around the corner of the hallway. She hid behind a column, waiting for them to pass. As she snuck down the corridors, she could hear the sizzling noise of electricity, only made worse by Mike's screams in between.

She raced towards the noise until she ended up at a door, leading downstairs. She could hear more soldiers roaming the hallways behind her. She was running out of time.

She stormed down the stairs, finding Mike tied to a chair, three soldiers standing before him, one of them holding a stun gun. She could tell it was military weaponry and much stronger anything CCPD would ever use.

She knocked out the soldiers with ease before she raced over to Mike. She knelt down to him, taking his face in her hands, carefully inspecting it. He seemed to be barely breathing and having several bleeding cuts and bruises on his face.

"Hayley," he managed to cough out, relieved to see her again. By now, he hadn't thought he would ever get another chance to. He leaned forward as much as he could, he didn't care how much it hurt, and kissed her. He could feel her freeze for a second before she slowly pulled away from him, a small smile on her otherwise worried face.

"C'mon, let's get you out of here," Hayley said, looking at the metal cuffs around his wrists and ankles. She never had seen anything like it. They seemed to be a special invention by Eiling. "They have a sensor for a remote release control. Do you know how Eiling opened them?"

"His computer. Over there," Mike said with a few coughs, gesturing over to a small desk across the room with a computer on it.

Hayley followed his gaze and sped over, sitting down in front of the computer. "Of course, Eiling's computer is password protected," she mumbled with an eye roll, stretching her fingers. She had hacked millions of passwords by now, not to mention databases, police records, bank accounts and governmental data. This should be easy for her and a few seconds later, she let out a relieved breath. After a few tries, she had managed to get in and found the control panel for Mike's cuffs.

"Hayley…I didn't tell Eiling anything," Mike said, heavily breathing and she stopped typing for a moment to look at him.

"I know," she replied simply before turning her attention back to the screen. She clicked the button and she heard the clicking of the cuffs almost simultaneously.

He gasped a little when he could move again for the first time in hours. He still felt weak and had no idea how he would make it out of here alive. He stretched his legs a little before he tried standing up for the first time. Hayley raced to his side, giving him support and after a few steps, he felt secure enough to walk somewhat alone.

Suddenly, they could hear several footsteps running down the stairs and knew they just got company. A few of Eiling's men stormed into the little room, opening fire immediately. Hayley raced them to a secure corner of the room, where she left Mike before she raced over to the soldiers, knocking them out.

"Hayley, behind you!" Mike yelled. She spun around, looking directly at General Eiling himself.

"Ms. Allen…I'm glad you made it. But I'm afraid that's as far as you go," Eiling said with a smirk.

"Wouldn't be so sure about that," a voice sounded behind Eiling and Hayley's face instantly lit up. Thank God, the brothers never listened to her.

Dean was standing at the top of the stairs, pointing an assault rifle at Eiling. He probably had stolen it from one of the knocked-out soldiers in the corridors. Sam was standing behind his brother, looking on a little amused at Dean's G.I. Joe act.

Eiling turned around, looking at the two of them. In that moment, Hayley used her chance and punched Eiling in the face at super speed. He went down straightaway and the brothers ran down the stairs to her.

"Nice right hook, Speedy," Dean commented with an impressed grin.

"Thanks. Seems like I had a good teacher," she replied with a happy smile before her eyes glanced over to Mike sitting on the ground in the corner.

She walked over to him, helping him back up and Sam came to his other side, giving him support.

"I got it," Sam assured Hayley. She nodded and let go of him.

"You know a way out of here? 'Cause me and Sam didn't really come in with a map," Dean said, looking at her.

"Yeah, Cisco showed me the blueprints before. Just follow me," Hayley said, gesturing back upstairs.

The boys followed her back upstairs. Dean wasn't far behind her, holding his rifle at the ready as she led the way through a labyrinth of corridors until they came to a hold at a dead-end with a closed metal door in front of them.

"Great. What now?" Dean asked, taking a look around the halls for more soldiers.

"I can try and override the code," Hayley said and walked over to a little box on the wall next to the door, typing something into it.

Dean spun around as he heard more footsteps coming closer. "How much longer?"

"Dammit, I can't override it. Eiling used a bio-digital code," Hayley told them.

"How are we supposed to get out now?" Sam asked.

"I don't know, but we're kinda running out of time here," Dean urged them.

"Get away from the door," Mike suddenly said and the three looked at him. Sam let go of him as he walked a few steps closer to the door. He took a deep breath before he punched the metal as hard as he could. His fist came out at the other side of it and he grabbed the rest of the metal door, ripping it out entirely before dumping it down the halls.

"That'll do," Dean said, rather satisfied with the solution. Sometimes meta-humans and their abilities still surprised him, but he had to admit that Mike's powers were pretty damn handy.

The four slipped through the hole in the wall, just in time as a bunch of soldiers turned up around the corner. Dean shot at them a few more times before he followed the other three outside of this hellhole.

They ran to the Impala, the soldiers and General Eiling not far behind them.

"Dean, we're never gonna get rid of them," Sam said as he looked back at the approaching army.

"That's why I asked Hayley to plant a little something," Dean replied, looking over to Hayley with a grin.

"A lil' something called C4," Hayley said with a grin as they all got into the car.

Dean started the Impala and Hayley activated the remote control for the explosion. It wouldn't kill anyone as all the soldiers and Eiling were already outside the base, but at least Eiling needed to find a new place to torture people.

They looked back at the explosion behind them as Dean drove the Impala back to the city.

* * *

The four had made it safely to S.T.A.R. labs without any further incident and Caitlin immediately took care of Mike's injuries.

"How is he?" Hayley asked as Caitlin walked back into the cortex.

"His injuries were severe, but he seems to have accelerated healing. It's just not as fast as yours. Any normal human would have died. He's lucky to be alive. He should rest for the next few days, but he's going to be fine," Caitlin informed them.

"Thank God," Hayley mumbled relieved.

"I gave him strong pain relievers, so he's a little out of it. But he wants to see you," Caitlin said, looking at Hayley. She nodded and headed off to the med bay.

"What now?" Caitlin asked, looking at Sam. He shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, I for one need a drink," Dean said and the others chuckled.

"You wanna go to the bar, Dean?" Sam asked amused, raising a brow at his older brother.

"Now you're talking, Sammy," Dean replied with a grin.

The brothers headed out the cortex when Cisco came running after them. "Dean, hey, could I talk to you for a second?" Cisco asked carefully, looking at Dean.

Dean glanced over to his little brother and threw the car keys at him, Sam catching them gracefully. "Start the car. I'll be out in a sec," he told Sam, who nodded before he headed outside.

"Hey, what's up?" Dean asked, looking down the corridors, making sure no one else was there to listen in. S.T.A.R. labs was probably the worst place to talk about the investigation.

"Okay so, I'm not proud of it, but I ran the samples," Cisco said and Dean's eyes widened. Had he found proof? "One wasn't identified, the other one was a match," he continued.

"Cisco, you're stalling. Was it Wells?" Dean asked, almost whispering now.

"No, it's not Dr. Wells. I told you he has nothing to do with this," Cisco replied defensively. "But I know whose blood it is…it's Hayley's," he informed Dean, who let out a frustrated sigh.

"We already know Hayley was there that night," Dean pointed out. He had honestly hoped for a little more information.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no," Cisco interrupted him. "You don't understand, dude. The sample had high levels of P16."

"Am I supposed to know what that is?" Dean asked sarcastically and Cisco sighed.

"That's a protein that builds up in the blood as we get older. And these levels were way too high for an 11-year-old. This sample was from Hayley as an adult," Cisco said and Dean looked at him shocked. What did that mean?

* * *

"Hey, how are you?" Hayley asked, a small smile on her face. She had thought about a thousand things she could say to him, but none of them seemed to express how she really felt, so she decided to stick to small talk.

"Better. Thanks to you," Mike replied. He was still pale, but the wounds had almost healed by now. She walked closer to him, sitting down next to his bed.

"Good. That's good," she said quietly, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"Are _you_ okay?" He asked, a smile on his face. She wondered how he still managed to be so kind after everything he had been through in the last few days.

"I'm sorry," Hayley said. She was still sobbing a little, but was determined enough to get in control of her emotions. She realized she hadn't slept much in the last few days either and the emotional trauma was beginning to catch up with her.

"For what? Saving my life?" Mike asked with a chuckle, but she shook her head.

"If Eiling hadn't known about me, he would've never found you," Hayley said, looking at him.

"It's not your fault I'm a meta-human, Hayley. Eiling could have found me through those bookies, too," Mike pointed out, but she knew he only wanted to make her feel better. "You know, as soon as I get out of here, maybe I can say thank you for saving me again with a slice of pizza." He had learned one thing from his near death experience, dying with regrets was no way to go out and he would be damned if he let that happen for a second time.

"You do realize you need a lot more quarters to feed me now," Hayley replied with a grin and he chuckled.

"Right. But I'm serious, what do you say?" She looked at him hesitantly.

"You know, we actually have to leave again tonight. New case," Hayley lied. She just couldn't bare the thought of putting him through something like this day again.

"Oh, yeah, of course. World doesn't stop turning, right?" Mike muttered, feigning a small smile.

"No, it doesn't," Hayley replied thoughtfully. She didn't know when she would see him again, but she knew it would be for the best.

* * *

"We should have killed him when he had the chance," Dean complained and took a sip from his beer. They had arrived at the bar half an hour ago and were enjoying their celebratory drinks. It wasn't every day, the brothers knocked out a whole military base. Still, Dean felt a little unsatisfied with the outcome.

"Well, at least we destroyed the military base. Might take Eiling a while to get back up on his feet," Sam said and Dean nodded. It still wasn't enough for him.

"Yeah, but you know Eiling's not gonna give up," Dean added.

"Well, let's worry about that when we get to it, shall we boys?" Hayley said with a grin as she approached the brothers from behind.

"Hey, how's Mike?" Sam asked.

"He's gonna be fine and back behind the bar in no time," Hayley replied happily. "Thanks again. You know for not listening to me and saving my life and all."

"You're welcome," Dean said with a smirk, holding out his beer to her before taking another gulp and Sam and Hayley chuckled. "So, what's next? You wanna stay a couple more days…"

"No. Actually...I found a case in Philadelphia. And before you say something, I already marked the top five restaurants that have the best cheese steak," Hayley said, looking at Dean and he chuckled.

They finished their drinks before the three left Central City behind them again and drove off to the next town that needed their help.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Hey guys, I'm back! And I'm telling you, it's good to be back again and being able to write (yay!). The reason I haven't posted in a while, was my messed up hand. I tried to write in the first two weeks after the injury, but after half an hour my hand would start to cramp and hurt. So I decided to give it some well-deserved rest and voila, a few weeks later it's as good as new :)  
It also gave me some time to binge-watch some SPN and Flash and to plan a few more details for my story lines. I also enjoy S13 and S4 so far. I really love the more humorous episodes of the Flash this season and honestly, DeVoe is such a cool villain and I can't wait to write a story line to that :D and yeah, all the love for Jack, guys. He's a sweetheart. I feel like if Hayley'd be around, she would kick Dean multiple times for being such an ass to sweet baby Jack. I'm so happy with these story lines I can't even tell you :D how are you liking the seasons so far?

In other news, I wish though, I'd be further along with my story right now, but I do have lots of time to write and hopefully I'll be able to post the Xmas chapter right around Christmas ;) (you can look forward to that!) But first we have a few more chapters to get through before we get to that.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. It's based on the time Eiling kidnapped Stein. I'm eventually introducing Firestorm as I need Stein for some time travel stuff, so that will be sooner than you think, considering the big bomb drop with Cisco and Dean at the end. Next we have a good old fashioned monster hunt :)

I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving. I'm certainly thankful for all of you, who keep reading and commenting this little story of mine :)  
Enjoy the pre-Christmas season and until next time!


	6. Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things

_I see a red door and I want it painted black_  
 _No colors any more, I want them to turn black_  
 _I see the girls walk by, dressed in their summer clothes_  
 _I have to turn my head until my darkness goes_

 _I look inside myself and see my heart is black_  
 _I see my red door I must have it painted black_  
 _Maybe then I'll fade away and not have to face the facts_  
 _It's not easy facing up when your whole world is black_

 _Paint It Black_ by **The Rolling Stones**

* * *

 **6\. Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things (SPN 2.04)**

 **Greenville, Illinois**

She was sprawled out in the backseat of the Impala as it raced down yet another highway. She had tried her best to ignore the brothers' bickering in the front, but eventually not even Freddie Mercury's voice could tune them out and she put her headphones down with a deep sigh.

"Come on, Sam, I'm begging you. This is stupid," Dean complained. The three had worked a couple of cases in the last few weeks, but after their last one, his little brother had insisted on doing something else.

"Why?" Sam asked, looking innocently at him.

"Going to visit Mom's grave? She doesn't even have a grave – there, there was no body left after the fire," Dean argued. They were on their way to the Greenville, Illinois cemetery to visit their mother's grave for the first time. Their father had never bothered to take them as children and Dean wasn't to eager to go there now either.

"She has a headstone," Sam said defensively.

"Yeah, put up by her uncle, a man we've never even met. So you wanna, go pay your respects to a slab of granite put up by a stranger?" Dean asked, looking at him.

"Dean, that's not the point," Sam said, rolling his eyes at him.

"Well then, enlighten me, Sam," Dean challenged him teasingly.

"It's not about a body, or, or, a casket. It's about her memory, okay?" Sam argued, but Dean shook his head at him.

"Hmmm," Dean muttered mockingly.

"I mean I'm sure Hayley visits her Mom's grave," Sam said, looking back at her.

"Actually…," Hayley started to say.

"Oh c'mon! You too?" Sam threw his head back with deep sigh while Dean chuckled winningly. "Why?"

"Because…I don't need to talk to a stone to remember her," Hayley replied simply, but Sam's question made her uncomfortable. She didn't know why exactly she had never been at her mother's grave. It had never even occurred to her to go before.

"Sammy, c'mon, leave Hayley outta this," Dean scolded him, noticing Hayley's discomfort. Sometimes his little brother had the sensitivity of a bread lump when it came to their Mom. Maybe because Sam hadn't been there, not really anyways.

"Fine, but after Dad it just…just feels like the right thing to do," Sam continued unhindered.

"It's irrational, is what it is," Dean mumbled.

"Agreed," Hayley chimed in and Sam threw them both a look before turning his attention back to his older brother.

"Look, man. No one asked you to come," Sam suddenly declared and Dean looked at him surprised.

"Why don't we swing by the roadhouse instead? I mean, we haven't heard anything on the demon lately. We should be hunting that son of a bitch down," Dean suggested, trying to change the subject. His little brother was usually the first one to jump on the demon wagon.

"That's a good idea, you should. Just drop us off, and Hayley and I meet you there tomorrow," Sam suggested. "Right, Hayles?"

"Sure, can do," Hayley replied with a grin. She sure didn't have a problem with visiting _their_ Mom's grave.

"See?" Sam said with a smirk, turning back to Dean.

"Right," Dean said with an awkward chuckle and the two looked at him expectantly. "Stuck…stuck with those people, making awkward small talk until you two show up? No thanks," he muttered, caving in.

* * *

A few hours later and the three had made it to the Greenville cemetery. Hayley helped Sam find the headstone while Dean had decided to wander off all together. It seemed like he didn't even want to be in the vicinity of it.

She read the engraving of the headstone, _Mary Winchester, 1954-1983, In Loving Memory,_ and wondered what was written on her own mother's headstone. She didn't know.

She gently touched Sam's shoulder as he knelt down in front of it, telling him she would give him some space, before she joined Dean a few graves over. He seemed quiet and lost in his thoughts, staring at a random headstone.

"Hey," Hayley said as she approached him slowly.

"Hey," he replied pensively, looking briefly at her before staring at the headstone in front of him again. "You believe in the impossible, right?"

The question surprised her and she looked up at him. "I mean I'm kinda the human definition of the impossible, aside from all the monsters we hunt, so…I guess yeah," Hayley replied, twitching her shoulders.

"You think time travel is possible?" Dean asked her out of the blue, knowing it would probably make her suspicious. But he needed to know. Ever since they had left Central City, finding out that piece of information had cost him sleepless nights.

She let out a deep breath. "Theoretically, yeah. But _theoretically_ almost anything's possible. Where's this coming from?"

He looked at her for a moment. He could tell her the truth, sure, but what was even the truth? That he thought she could time travel? It even sounded ridiculous in his head. "Uh, no reason. _Back to the Future_ was on TV yesterday and I just wondered," Dean lied and she nodded understandingly. She supposed everyone who had lost a loved one once, thought about time travel at least at one point in their life. She certainly had.

"Oh…well, I don't know anyone who attempted to build a time machine yet, except Doc Brown," Hayley answered nonchalantly.

"What about a meta-human?" Dean questioned, looking at her and she shrugged her shoulders.

"I guess it's possible. It's just…I haven't met one yet. Have you?" She replied with a smile and he shook his head. He knew she had just been joking, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he actually knew someone like that. And that someone was standing right next to him.

They stood there for a while longer, waiting for Sam to finish when Dean noticed a dying tree not far from them. He walked over to it, Hayley following him curiously.

"What's that?" She asked, looking at the miserable tree. Not far from it was a grave marker, indicating that the grave hadn't been here for too long. The grass around it had died in a perfect circle, as had the flowers and apparently the tree, as Dean knocked against the trunk, revealing it to be completely hollow on the inside.

"I don't know. But it's definitely weird," Dean replied thoughtfully. "So let's find out."

They showed the weird looking grave to Sam, who seemed more than annoyed with them for finding a possible case, while Dean talked to the groundskeeper to find out who that grave belonged to.

"Angela Mason," Dean announced as he walked back over to them, flipping a card in his hands. "She was a student at the local college – funeral was three days ago."

"And?" Sam asked, raising his brows as the three walked back to the Impala.

" _And_? You saw her grave. Everything dead around it, in a perfect circle? You don't think that's a little weird?" Dean questioned him surprised, but Sam just shrugged.

"Maybe the groundskeeper went a little agro with the pesticide," his little brother mused.

"No, I asked him, I asked him. No pesticide, no chemicals. Nobody can explain it," Dean said adamantly.

"So what are we dealing with? Ghost?" Hayley asked, looking at Dean.

"I dunno. Unholy ground, maybe?" Dean suggested. Sam stopped and stared at him.

"Un-," Sam started to argue, but stopped, shaking his head, speechless.

"What?" Dean asked annoyed now. His little brother looked at him like he had gone mad, when in reality, all they did is find crazy on a daily basis. "If something evil happened there, it could easily poison the ground. Remember the, the farm outside of Cedar Rapids?"

"Yeah, b-…," Sam tried to argue, but was interrupted again.

"Could be the sign of a demonic presence. Or the, the Angela girl's spirit, if it's powerful enough," Dean countered, but Sam just nodded before he continued their walk back to the car. "Well, don't get too excited, you might pull something," Dean muttered and Sam threw him a look, sighing.

"It's just…stumbling onto a hunt? Here, of all places?" Sam pointed out, but his brother just shrugged.

"So?"

"So…are you sure this is about a hunt, and not about something else?" Sam asked carefully.

"What else would it be about?" Dean asked, ignoring his little brother's concerns.

"You know, just forget about it," Sam mumbled annoyed, sighing heavily.

"You believe what you want, Sam, but I let you drag my ass out here, the least we could do is check this out," Dean argued.

"Yeah. Fine," Sam agreed unhappily.

"Okay, well," Hayley said, clearing her throat once the boys had stopped arguing. "Angela's father works in town. He's a professor at the local university."

* * *

The three paid a visit to Professor Mason's office soon after. Dean knocked on his door and a small, older man with balding grey hair opened the door.

"Dr. Mason?" Dean asked and the man nodded.

"Yes?"

"I'm Hayley. Those are my cousins Sam and Dean. We were friends of Angela's. We…we wanted to offer our condolences," Hayley told him and the man responded with a small smile, gesturing them inside his office.

"Please, come in."

Sam and Hayley sat down on the small couch in his office while the professor pulled out a photo album of Angela, showing it to them.

"She was beautiful," Sam said with a kind smile and the man nodded.

"Yes, she was," he agreed with a sad smile.

Dean on the other hand, didn't sit down and instead walked around the room, looking for clues. He found an old book on one of the shelves with weird letters engraved in gold on it. "This is an unusual book," he commented, holding it up for the professor to see.

"It's ancient Greek – I teach a course," the professor replied.

"So a car accident…that's, that's horrible," Dean said and Sam looked at him.

"Angie was only a mile away from home when, uh…," the professor said, swallowing.

"It's gotta be hard. Losing someone like that. Sometimes it's like they're still around…almost like you can still sense their presence," Dean said and his two companions threw him a look. It was pretty obvious to see what he was trying to get at. "You ever feel anything like that?"

"I do, as a matter of fact," the professor replied. Dean and Hayley shared a look at his response, but Sam just shook his head at them.

"That's perfectly normal, Dr. Mason. Especially with what you're going through," Sam replied, not taking his eyes off of Dean.

"You know, I still phone her. And the phone's ringing before I remember that, uh…," Dr. Mason told them sadly. "Family's everything, you know? Angie was the most important thing in my life. And now I, I, I'm just lost without her."

"We're very sorry," Sam said apologetically before he dragged the other two out of the office again, not wanting to bother that poor man any more than they already had.

* * *

They had found a motel in town and Dean had been eagerly flipping through his father's journal as soon as they got back while Hayley was doing research on her laptop. Sam had tried to ignore their enthusiasm on this case and instead went to the bathroom to freshen up. But he couldn't even escape them there as Dean stood there, leaning against the doorframe and reading to him from John's journal.

"I'm telling you, there's something going on here. We just haven't found it yet," Dean assured his little brother, but Sam just shook his head at him.

"Dean, so far you've got a patch of dead grass and nothing," Sam argued grumpily.

"Well, something turned that grave into unholy ground," Dean countered.

"There's no reason for it to be unholy ground. Angela Mason was a nice girl who died in a car crash. That's not exactly vengeful spirit material. You heard her father," Sam replied.

"Yeah, well, maybe Daddy doesn't know everything there is to know about his little angel, huh?" Dean said, walking over to Hayley and taking a look at her research so far.

"You know what? We never should have bothered that poor man. We shouldn't even be here anymore," Sam said, looking at him.

"So what, Sam? What, we just bail? Without even figuring out what's going on?" Dean asked him, but Sam shook his head.

"I think I know what's going on here. It's the only reason I went along with you this far," Sam suddenly said and two pairs of eyes suddenly stared at him, Hayley closing her laptop slowly.

"What are you talking about?" Dean then asked, breaking the brief moment of silence in the room.

"This is about Mom's grave," Sam pointed out.

"That's got nothing to do with it," Dean scoffed defensively. He glanced at Hayley, biting her lower lip and knew she agreed with Sam.

"You wouldn't step within a hundred yards of it," Sam countered. "Look, maybe you're imagining a hunt where there isn't one so you don't have to think about Mom. Or Dad," he continued. Dean stared at him for while. The anger slowly rising up inside of him. But his little brother just sighed. "You wanna take another swing? Go ahead, if it'll make you feel better," Sam dared him.

"I don't need this crap," Dean said through gritted teeth, shaking his head. He walked to his bed, grabbing his leather jacket and the keys to the Impala, before he headed for the door.

"Dean, where're you going?" Sam asked with a sigh, watching his brother as he gathered his things.

"I'm going to go get a drink," Dean announced, grabbing the doorknob. " _Alone_ ," he added, emphasizing the word while giving his best death stare to Sam, slamming the door shut behind him.

Hayley shook her head at Sam with a frustrated sigh, but he just shrugged his shoulders at her stubbornly. _Toddlers. Sometimes they behaved like actual toddlers_ , she thought to herself.

"What?!" Sam asked, looking at her with an innocent confusion. After all, he was just telling the truth, even though they didn't seem to feel the same way about it.

"Was that really necessary?" Hayley raised her eyebrows at him.

"So you wanna go along with a fake case just so that Dean can hide from his feelings?" Sam countered, but she shook her head.

"No, of course not! But the case isn't fake, you idiot. I have no idea how you can't see that there's something wrong here, but you should really trust your brother more, Sam. He earned it," Hayley told him and he looked at her quietly, thinking about it.

"Yeah, I know. You're right," Sam finally admitted.

"Good," Hayley said before she grabbed her bag and ran to the door.

"Where are you going now?" Sam asked.

"Fixing it. Stay here," she ordered him and he frowned before she disappeared out the door and ran after the oldest Winchester.

"Dean, wait," she called after him but he just continued his walk to the Impala, not even looking back once.

"Having trouble with the definition of the word _alone_?" He asked sarcastically and she chuckled.

"I think we've established by now that I'm not that easy to get rid of, Winchester," she replied with a smirk, speeding in front of him and forcing him to stop abruptly. He let out an annoyed sigh.

"What do you want? I saw you in there. You're on Sam's side," Dean threw at her and she stared at him for a moment.

"First of all, I don't do sides and you know that. Secondly, I only partially agree with Sam," Hayley told him and that caught his attention. "Look, I don't care about _why_ you found that grave, but it's definitely weird. So you wanna keep throwing yourself a pity party or you wanna go hunt something?" She asked enthusiastically.

"Fine. Get in the car," he ordered her and she obliged, jumping happily in the passenger's seat of the Impala.

* * *

Dean and Hayley decided to stop by Angela's apartment. He fumbled around the door lock with a credit card, earning him a judgmental frown from _Ms._ _Law and Order_.

They entered the apartment, walking down a narrow hallway, leading them into a little living room. Dean wandered around the room, looking at the pictures put up on a dresser.

"So, time travel…," Hayley suddenly said and Dean pricked up his ears. He should have known she would have more questions about his sudden interest in it. "Where would you wanna go?"

"Hm?"

"If you could travel to any point in time, where would you go? I mean you must've thought about it," Hayley mused and he turned around to look at her.

"Actually, I didn't," Dean replied with a shrug. It was a lie. He had thought about the possibilities, not only what it mean for Hayley, but also what it would mean for him and Sam.

"Oh," she said with a rather disappointed nod.

"Where would you go?" Theoretically, he already knew the answer, but it was a good way to test that theory.

"It's pretty obvious, I'd say," she replied with a small smile and he nodded knowingly. "Wouldn't you?"

He turned around to look at the pictures again, picking up a frame. "Yeah," he replied quietly. He saw a figure reflecting in Angela's face and realized they had company.

"Hey, didn't Angela's Dad say she lived with a roommate?" Hayley asked and said roommate spun around at the noise, noticing the two as she walked out of the bathroom. She screamed loudly and Dean immediately stormed after her.

"Huh, guess that's her," Hayley mumbled before she followed the two to one of the bedroom doors.

"Who the hell are you?" The girl yelled frightened at them before she slammed the door shut in front of them.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, hold on!" Dean tried to calm her down.

"I'm calling 911!" She threatened.

"I'm Angela's cousin!" Dean quickly said and the room turned quiet for a while.

"What?" They heard the girl ask behind the closed door.

"Yeah, her Dad sent me over to, uh, pick up her stuff, my name's Alan? Alan Stanwick?" Dean lied and Hayley shot him a look before she sped away. He looked after her confused when the door finally opened and the girl peaked out her head.

"Her Dad didn't say that you were coming," the girl replied, looking at him.

"Well, I mean…," Dean rambled on when he noticed Hayley appeared behind him again.

"How else would we have the key to your place?" Hayley chimed in, holding up a set of keys. All it took to get them was just a quick stop to the morgue and a very extensive search through Angela's bagged items.

"And you are…?" The girl asked, still suspicious.

"His sister Katrina. Hi," Hayley said with a warm smile. Dean looked at her surprised, but spun around and laughed at the girl reassuringly.

The girl, Lindsey, had finally decided to come out and they sat down across from her on the couch. Once the girl had trusted them, she _really_ opened up and they had trouble handing her enough kleenex. Dean was stiffly sitting next to Hayley, looking rather uncomfortable with all the crying and Hayley had to try hard not to laugh.

"So…I'm sure you got a, a view of Angela that none of the family got to see. Tell me, what, what was she like? I mean, what was she really like?" Dean asked Lindsey not very subtly.

"She was great," Lindsey replied, sneezing into another tissue.

"Hmm," Dean nodded.

"Just great. I mean, she was so…so…," the girl stuttered out.

"Great," Dean repeated with a smile. Not the answer he hoped he would get.

"Yeah. Yeah," Lindsey assured them, starting to sob some more.

"Here you go," Dean handed her another kleenex from the little box on the coffee table and she took it gratefully.

"You two were really close, huh?" Hayley asked her.

"We were," Lindsey replied with a nod. "But it's not just her, it's Matt," she said, looking at Dean again.

"Who?" Dean asked.

"Uh, Angela's boyfriend, right?" Hayley jumped in quickly and the girl nodded sobbingly.

"Right, Matt. What about him?" Dean asked, catching on.

"He killed himself last night. He cut his own throat. Who does that?" The girl told them upset, starting to cry again, and Hayley and Dean shared a look. Now it seemed like they actually had a case.

"Sounds like something," Hayley muttered and Dean nodded.

"Huh? What?" The girl asked, looking puzzled at their exchange.

"Uh, sounds like something…terrible," Dean said quickly and the girl nodded.

"He was taking Angela's death pretty hard, and I guess…I mean, he'd been messed up about it for days," Lindsey explained.

"Messed up how?" Hayley asked.

"He kept saying that he saw her everywhere," Lindsey said, looking up at her.

"Well, I'm, I'm sure that that's normal, I mean with everything that he was going through," Dean tried to assure her but she shook her head vehemently.

"No, he said that he _saw_ her. As in, an acid trip or something," Lindsey said and the two shared another look.

"Were Angela and Matt a happy couple? I mean, is there any reason that Angela would be angry with him?" Dean asked and the girl looked surprised at the question.

"What? No, of course not, why do you ask?" She replied, almost a little too eagerly.

"Just asking," Dean said with a smile. "Where did Matt live?"

* * *

The two dropped by Matt's house next. Police tape still covered the crime scene in the middle of the living room. The cops had ruled it a suicide, but looking more closely, Dean and Hayley noticed the dead plants at Matt's place.

They returned to the motel soon after, having come up with a couple ideas of what they were dealing with. Dean unlocked the motel room door, entering first. He could still hear the familiar sound of the Skin channel and immediately blocked Hayley behind him like a reflex.

Sam looked startled at them, switching off the TV and tossing the remote control. He looked at them guiltily.

"Ouch, Dean!" Hayley protested and he realized he was still covering her eyes with his hand. You really could never be too careful walking into a guy's motel room. He retracted his hand with a smirk, Hayley wrinkling her forehead in confusion.

"Hey," Sam greeted them quietly. Dean glanced between his little brother and the television. "What?" Sam asked innocently.

"Awkward," Dean commented with a chuckle.

"Oh God, I hate living with boys," Hayley muttered, realizing Sam had been enjoying his alone time.

"Where the hell were you two all day?" Sam asked, changing the subject.

"Working my imaginary case," Dean retorted.

"Yeah? And?" Sam asked, a little curious now.

"Well, you were right, we didn't find much," Dean told him, earning him a frown from Hayley. She knew he would enjoy this probably too much. Sam nodded at him sympathetically. "Yeah…except Angela's boyfriend died last night. Slit his own throat. But, you know, that's normal. Uh, let's see, what else…oh, he was seeing Angela everywhere before he died. But you know, I'm sure that's just me transferring my own feelings," Dean continued and Sam had caught on by now.

"Okay, I get it," Sam replied, defeated. "I'm sorry, maybe there is something going on here."

" _Maybe_?" Dean questioned a little irritated. "Sam, I know how to do my job, despite what you might think." Sam looked stunned at his older brother, but eventually nodded understandingly.

"We should check out the guy's apartment," Sam suggested.

"We just did. Pile of dead plants, just like the cemetery," Hayley replied.

"Hell, dead goldfish too," Dean added.

"So, unholy ground?" Sam mused.

"Maybe," Dean said with a nod. "I'm still not getting that powerful angry spirit vibe from Angela." He walked over to the other side of the room and took out a little pink book from Hayley's bag. "We have found this, though."

"You stole the girl's diary?" Sam asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah, Sam. And if anything the girl's a little too nice," Dean replied.

"So what do you want to do?" Sam asked, looking at him.

"Well, I already read the whole thing. I'd say we stop by Mr. Friendzone's house next," Hayley said with a grin, being joined by Dean, who looked at Sam rather satisfied.

* * *

"I didn't realize the college employed grief counselors," Neil said as he opened the door and looked at the three of them. He had been Angela's best friend, no one would have known her better than him.

"Oh yeah. Yeah, you talk, we listen. Or maybe throw in a little therapeutic collage, whatever jump-starts the healing," Dean said with a smile.

"Well, I think I'm okay. Thanks," he replied hesitantly, trying to close the door on them again.

"Well, you heard what happened to Matt Harrison, right?" Sam quickly jumped in before they lost Neil all together.

"Yeah, I did," Neil responded with a nod. He didn't seem to care much about it though.

"Well, we just wanted to make sure you were okay," Sam said.

"Yeah…grief can make people do crazy things," Hayley added.

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened to him. I am," Neil interrupted their babbling. "But if Matt killed himself it wasn't 'cause of grief."

"No? Then why?" Dean asked, raising his brows. He already had a pretty damn good feeling why that might be.

"It was guilt. Angie's death was Matt's fault and he knew it," Neil replied.

"How was Matt responsible?" Sam asked and Neil looked at them, sighing.

"Well, she really loved that guy. But the night of the accident she walked in on him with another girl," Neil said and Dean shared a look with his companions. "She was really torn up, that's why she crashed the car," he explained. "Uhm, look, I gotta get ready for work, so…thanks for the concern, but seriously, I'll be okay." Neil closed the door again and the three walked back to the Impala.

"Well, that vengeful spirit theory's starting to make a little more sense. I mean, hell hath no fury…," Dean said, looking at Sam and Hayley.

"At least explains why she killed Matt. I mean talk about a scorned girlfriend," Hayley said.

"So if Angela got her revenge on Matt, you think it's over?" Sam asked, looking at them.

"Well, there's one way to be sure," Dean said as they got into the Impala.

"Yeah? What's that?" Hayley asked curiously, leaning forward from the backseat.

"Burn the bones," Dean replied simply. Hayley nodded in response while Sam looked at him with wide eyes.

" _Burn the bones_? Are you high?" Sam asked, scoffing.

"No, I checked earlier. His pupils are normal," Hayley replied nonchalantly and the brothers threw her a look.

"I don't think he meant it literally, Speedy," Dean said with a chuckle and she looked up at him confused.

"Angela died last week!" Sam threw in, steering them back to topic.

"So?" Dean asked with a shrug.

"So…there's not gonna be bones. There's gonna be a ripe, rotting body in the coffin," Sam replied.

"Well, it's not that different from burning bones. I mean it's probably gonna smell a little more. A lot more, actually…" Hayley explained.

"Okay, enough with the sciency stuff," Dean interrupted her with a chuckle, turning back to Sam. "And since when are you afraid to get dirty? Huh?"

* * *

They waited until nightfall before they went back to the cemetery. They stood in front of Angela's grave and Dean held out the shovel to Hayley, clearing his throat with a smirk.

"Ladies first," he said with a grin and she glanced at the shovel before she narrowed her eyes at him.

"You two are getting lazy," Hayley said, grabbing the shovel, and started to dig at super speed.

"Three seconds. Gotta be a new record," Dean said to her with a smile when he jumped into the freshly dug up grave.

"Well, the honor is all yours now, Winchester," Hayley said and let out an exhaustive breath before Sam helped her out of the grave.

The two looked down into the grave as Dean pushed open the coffin, Sam holding the flashlight above it. But the coffin turned out to be empty and the three looked at it puzzled.

"Uh, guys…there's no body," Hayley pointed out and the brothers threw her a look.

"Yeah, I can see that," Dean retorted. "They buried the body four days ago."

"I don't get it," Sam agreed, shaking his head. He noticed something carved into the inside of the coffin and shone his flashlight on it. "Look."

"What is that?" Hayley asked, taking a closer look at it and Sam held her back, keeping her from actually falling into the grave.

"I'm not sure," Sam replied.

"I've seen these kind of symbols before," Dean suddenly said and Sam looked at him.

"Are Zombies a real thing?" Hayley asked absentmindedly and the brothers shared a look. "What?"

* * *

After doing a little research at the local library, the three visited Angela's father again. If anyone could have known about these symbols, Dean's suspicion definitely fell on the Greek professor broken up about his daughter's death.

"I can't believe Zombies are real," Hayley said, still a little freaked out. There was something about people crawling out of graves that gave her goosebumps, not to mention the eating-brains-thing.

Dean pounded heavily against Dr. Mason's front door. He suddenly seemed angrier than usual, and Hayley and Sam shared a worried look.

"Dean. Take it easy, okay?" Sam cautioned him.

"Yeah, what's with the chip on your shoulder?" Hayley asked, but Dean didn't look at them.

"You're Angie's friends, right?" Dr. Mason recognized them as he opened the door. He seemed more than surprised to see them again.

"Dr. Mason…," Sam said gently, but Dean immediately interrupted him.

"We need to talk," he told the older man harshly.

"Well, then, come in," Dr. Mason said a little baffled, but led them inside anyways.

"You teach Ancient Greek," Dean started as soon as they had entered the man's living room. "Tell me, what are these?" He pulled out a piece of paper on which he had copied the symbols from the grave and showed them to the professor.

"I don't understand. You said this had something to do with Angela," the man asked confused.

"It does. Please, just humor me," Dean said, feigning a polite smile.

"They're part of an ancient Greek divination ritual," Angela's father told them.

"Used for necromancy, right?" Dean questioned him further.

"That's right," he replied with a nod.

"See, before we came over here we stopped by the library and did a little homework ourselves. Apparently they used rituals like this one for communicating with the dead. Even bringing corpses back to life. Full-on zombie action," Dean explained, but the man looked even more confused now.

"Yes. I mean, according to the legends. Now, what's all this about?" Dr. Mason asked, raising his brows at the three.

"I think you know," Dean told him sharply.

"Dean," Hayley cautioned him gently, touching his arm but he brushed her off.

"Look, I get it. Okay? There are people that I would give anything to see again. But what gives you the right?" Dean started to yell angrily at Dr. Mason, whose eyes widened in shock.

"Dean!" Sam warned him.

"What are you talking about?" Dr. Mason asked perplexed.

"What's dead should stay dead!" Dean yelled at the man.

"What?!" Angela's father asked, now getting a little angry himself.

"Stop it!" Sam shouted at him, trying to keep his older brother in check.

"What you brought back isn't even your daughter anymore. These things are vicious, they're violent, they're so nasty they rot the ground around them. I mean, come on, haven't you seen _Pet Cemetery_?" Dean kept shouting at him angrily.

"You're insane," Dr. Mason told him, storming over to the phone.

"Where is she?" Dean asked, not calming down a bit.

"Get out of my house," the professor told them, starting to dial the phone but Dean just knocked it out of his hands.

"I know you're hiding her somewhere. Where is she?!" Dean yelled at him, grabbing the man before Sam jumped in and pulled him back.

"Dean! Stop, that's enough! Dean, look!" Sam shouted, pointing to a row of plants by the window. "Beautiful, living plants," Sam pointed out, dragging him out of the house.

"I'm so, so sorry. I promise we won't bother you again. We're leaving," Hayley said to Dr. Mason before she followed the boys outside. They were still struggling with each other on the sidewalk.

"What the hell is the matter with you, Dean?" Sam yelled at his older brother, stomping behind him.

"Back off," Dean snapped angrily without turning back.

"That man is innocent! He didn't deserve that!" Sam argued.

"Okay, so she's not here, maybe he's keeping her somewhere else," Dean countered. He could feel the anger rising up inside of him again. He hated that feeling, but he couldn't stop it either. It was the only emotion he had allowed himself to feel.

"Stop it! That's enough, okay? Enough!" Sam shouted at him. This had been going on for far too long now and not saying anything, only seemed to indulge his brother more.

"Sam, I know what I'm doing," Dean retorted.

"No, you don't. At all. Dean, I don't scare easy, but man, you're scaring the crap out of me," Sam confessed, but his brother just shook his head with an eye roll.

"Don't be overdramatic, Sam," Dean said annoyed.

"You're lucky this turned out to be a real case. Because if it wasn't you would have just found something else to kill," Sam countered.

"Wha-?" Dean stopped, scoffing.

"You're on edge, you're erratic – except for when you're hunting, because then you're downright scary. You're tail spinning, man. And you refuse to talk about it and you won't let me help you, or anyone for that matter," Sam said to him, glancing briefly at Hayley. He didn't even seem to talk to her that much about it. He didn't care who his brother talked to, as long as he did talk to someone.

Dean followed Sam's look to Hayley. She stood quietly next to them, leaning against a tree, watching them fight like she had so many times before. She probably thought by now they were crazy. And then she did the thing again – biting her lower lip. She wanted to say something, but refrained from doing so. Which could only mean one thing – she agreed with his little brother.

"I can take care of myself, thanks," Dean replied a little calmer now, looking back at Sam.

"No, you can't," Sam said sternly. "And you know what? You're the only one who thinks you should have to. You don't have to handle this on your own, Dean, no one can," he pleaded.

"Sam, if you bring up Dad's death one more time I swear…," Dean threatened.

"Stop. Please, Dean, it's killing you," Sam interrupted the oncoming fit. "Please. We've already lost Dad. We've lost Mom. I've lost Jessica. And now I'm going to lose you too?"

Dean looked at his little brother for a moment. Tears were brimming in Sam's eyes. He wanted to roll his eyes, but it probably wouldn't help the situation much. "We better get out of here before the cops come," he said instead and spun around to walk to the Impala. But his way was blocked by no one other than Hayley. She was giving him her own personal death stare – puppy eyes mixed with disappointment.

He sighed and turned around to face Sam again. "I hear you. Okay? Yeah, I'm being an ass. And I'm sorry. But right now we've got a friggin' zombie running around, and we need to figure out how to kill it," Dean said urgently and Sam chuckled. "Right?"

"Our lives are weird, man," Sam commented, shaking his head.

"You're telling me? Come on," Dean said with a chuckle, gesturing them to the Impala and Hayley held the door open for them with a small smile.

* * *

Back at the motel room, the three were doing their usual drill when working a case – research. Sam was rummaging through their father's journal while Hayley was typing away at her laptop. Dean, on the other hand, did his usual thing while the geek squad was at work – impatiently pacing the room.

"We can't just waste it with a head shot?" Dean asked and noticed Hayley already shaking her head, not looking up from the screen.

"Dude. You've been watching way too many Romero flicks," Sam said.

"You're telling me there's no lore on how to smoke 'em," Dean questioned, sitting down next to Hayley on the bed, trying to take a peak at her research.

"Nope, there's too much," Hayley replied.

"Yeah, there's like a hundred different legends on the walking dead, but they all have different methods for killing them," Sam added. "Some say, setting them on fire, uh, one said, where is it?" Sam searched through the pile of papers next to him. "Right here. Feeding their hearts to wild dogs. That's my personal favorite. I mean, who knows what's real and what's myth?"

"Is there anything they all have in common?" Dean asked, looking between the two.

"Well, silver might work," Hayley replied rather unhappy with the answer.

"Silver's a start," Dean said eagerly.

"Yeah. But now how are we going to find Angela?" Sam asked.

"We've gotta figure out the person who brought her back," Hayley said.

"Any ideas?" Sam asked, looking at her.

"I think if it's not her dad it might be that guy Neil," Dean suggested.

"Friendzone guy? Might be. Seemed desperate enough," Hayley agreed with a shrug.

"Yep," Dean said, grabbing Angela's diary from the table.

"How'd you come up with that?" Sam asked.

"Well, you've got your journal, I've got mine," Dean replied with a grin, holding up the diary.

"It certainly sounded like he might have liked her more than she did him," Hayley pointed out, remembering what she read in Angela's diary.

" _Neil's a real shoulder to cry on, he so understands what I'm going through with Matt,_ " Dean read an entry from the journal. "There's more in here where that came from. It's got unrequited ducky love written all over it."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean he brought her back from the dead," Sam countered.

"Well, let me see…if I were a guy, the best way to get into a dead girl's pants is to bring said dead girl back from the dead," Hayley said and Dean chuckled while Sam looked at her amused.

"Yeah, plus did I mention he's Professor Mason's TA? Has access to all the same books," Dean added with a smile, finally winning over Sam with their theory.

* * *

Dean picked the lock to Neil's house. It was the middle of the night, the house was dark and quiet and it seemed safe enough to enter.

"Hello? Neil?! It's your grief counselors – we've come to hug," Dean announced loudly as he entered the foyer. No answer. They were in the clear and he pulled out his gun.

"Silver bullets?" Sam asked, looking at it.

"Yeah, enough to make her rattle like a change purse," Dean replied with a grin.

"Hayles, is that a machete?" Sam asked, looking at Hayley's choice of weapon, raising an eyebrow at her. Dean spun around and looked at her now too.

"Zombies freak me out, okay?" Hayley said defensively.

"Who knew that's all it took," Dean replied with a proud smile and she frowned at him. "Just don't hurt yourself," he reprimanded her. God knows a speedster with a machete could go wrong so many ways.

They continued moving through the house, walking by dead plants until they found the door to the basement. It was locked, giving away the first clue. Dean gestured at the entrance and the two looked at it, nodding their approval. Neil was definitely keeping something down there. Somehow all evil things seemed to gather in the common American's basement.

"Unless it's where he keeps his porn…," Dean joked before Hayley broke the lock open with an easy hand movement. Sometimes that girl was like a walking, talking tool box.

They snuck down the narrow stairs, Dean taking the lead, holding his gun in position. The room was dark and small. Not much was in it, except for a cot with women's clothes on it. Someone had been living here.

"Sure looks like a zombie pen to me," Dean pointed out what they were all thinking.

"Yeah. An _empty_ one. You think Angela's going after somebody?" Sam asked, looking at them.

Dean walked across the room, finding a loose grate in the wall. He pulled it aside and looked inside the hole. It was definitely leading outside somewhere. "Nah, I think she went out to rent _Beaches_ ," Dean joked and Sam frowned.

"Look, smartass, she might kill someone. We gotta find her, Dean," Sam said irritated.

"Yeah. All right. She, uh, she clipped Matt because he was cheating, right?" Dean asked, thinking.

"Yeah," Sam confirmed.

"Well, it takes two to, you know…have hardcore sex," Dean said with a smirk, looking at Hayley, who narrowed her eyes at him. Sam shook his head with a sigh.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Hayley asked, looking between the two brothers.

"Well, Hayley all you have to do is ask…" Dean replied with a grin and Hayley slapped his arm.

"Not _that_ , you horny monkey," Hayley scolded him. "Remember, Lindsey? Angela's roommate?"

"Huh," Dean said, realizing what she was getting at.

"What?" Sam asked, not following their conversation entirely.

"Well, Angela's roommate was pretty broken up over Matt's death. I mean, like, _really_ broken up," Dean said and Sam caught the hint, nodding.

* * *

The Impala raced over to Lindsey's apartment and they ran inside in a hurry. They didn't know for how long exactly the vindictive zombie girl had been on the loose. And apparently the three were just on time as they stormed into the apartment, having already heard the panicked screams when they ran up the driveway.

Angela looked like the angel of death, standing there with her white dress, having a bloody scissor raised in one hand, holding Lindsey by her hair tightly in place in the other as she proceeded to stab her former roommate.

Dean fired his gun three times, shooting Angela in the back. For a second she didn't move, before she spun around, screaming furiously at them. Hayley raced over to Lindsey, grabbing her and speeding her away from Angela, when Dean shot her one more time in her chest. She screamed again before she bolted out the open living room window.

Dean ran after the zombie, gun in hand while Lindsey was still shaking and sobbing in Hayley's arms when Sam joined them, helping the girl back up.

"Damn, that dead chick can run," Dean said, shaking his head, as he climbed back in through the window.

"Yeah, they should really change the lore about zombies and being slow," Hayley commented and she could see the girl's eyes widening at the mention of zombies. "Figure of speech," she told Lindsey, who just nodded, still in shock.

"What now?" Sam asked, looking at Dean and Hayley.

"I say we go have a little chat with Neil," Dean replied and the two nodded.

* * *

On their way to Neil's, the three went over their strategies again. They definitely needed a new one since Angela was still running around, trying to kill people.

"So the silver bullets, they did something, right?" Sam asked, looking at Dean in the driver's seat.

"Yeah, something, but not enough. What else you got?" Dean asked.

"A few mentioned _nailing the undead back into gravebeds_ ," Hayley said, reading from her laptop.

"Yeah, it's probably where the whole vampire staking lore came from," Sam added with an eye roll.

"Their gravebeds? You serious?" Dean asked, looking at Hayley in the backseat and then back to Sam.

"Yeah," they both confirmed him.

"How the hell are we going to get Angela back to the cemetery?" Dean raised his brows at them.

* * *

They couldn't find any sign of Neil at his house, so they decided to drive by his office at the university. It was late at night and the building was dark when they walked down the empty hallways to his office.

His office was dark too when the three entered, but to their surprise Neil was sitting at his desk, looking pale and nervous.

"What are you guys doing here?" Neil asked them perplexed. He surely hadn't expected his grief counselors to show up in the middle of the night.

"You know, I've heard of people doing some pretty desperate things to get laid, but _you_ – you take the cake," Dean said to him, as they approached his desk.

"Hm, yeah. Pretty sure necrophilia is illegal, too," Hayley chimed in, sharing a look with Dean.

"Okay. Who are you guys?" Neil asked them, irritated now. He finally had caught on to their bait.

"You might want to ask Angela that question," Dean told him with a knowing look in his eyes.

"What?" Neil looked shocked. Surely he hadn't expected anyone to know about his dirty little secret in the basement.

"We know what you did. The ritual? Everything," Sam said and Neil's eyes widened for a moment before he gathered back his composure.

"You're crazy," he scoffed, shaking his head at them.

"Your girlfriend's past her expiration date and we're crazy? When someone's gone they should stay gone. You don't mess with that kind of stuff," Dean said and Hayley looked at him worriedly. It hadn't been the first time he had said that today and considering their earlier conversation, it seemed pretty odd.

"Angela killed Matt. She tried to kill Lindsey," Sam said, trying to get through to this guy.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Neil insisted. That's when Dean lost his patience again, stomping over to his desk and pulling Neil up by the color of his striped polo shirt.

"Hey! No more crap, Neil. His blood is on your hands," Dean told the little guy sternly. "Now. Me and him can make this right, but you've gotta tell us where she is. Tell us!"

"My house. She's at my house," Neil stuttered out and Dean let go of him again at this confession, suddenly noticing a couple of dead plants behind Neil by the window.

"You sure about that?" Dean asked, looking firmly at him. He nodded a little frightened, looking around the room nervously. Dean followed his gaze, seeing a closet door and looked over to Sam and Hayley, who nodded their approval. They already knew Angela was closer than Neil wanted to make them believe.

"Listen," Dean said louder now, clearing his throat. "It doesn't really matter where she is. There's only one way to stop her. We've got to perform another ritual over her grave, to reverse the one that you did. We're going to need some black root, some, some scar weed, some candles…It's very complicated, but it'll get the job done. She'll be dead again in a couple hours. I think you should come with us." But Neil seemed to hesitate. "I'm serious, Neil. Leave with us. Right now."

"No. No," Neil replied, shaking his head. It was no use, the guy was a lost cause.

Dean leaned in over his desk, getting close enough to his ear. "Listen to me. Get out of here as soon as you can. But most of all, be cool. No sudden movements. Don't make her mad," he whispered to Neil, who swallowed hard in response. "Let's go."

And with that, the three left Neil to fend for himself.

* * *

It was the second time she had to dig up that girl's grave in the last couple of days, not to mention that she had to bury her again too. The boys were preparing Angela's grave for the ritual, lighting a bunch of candles around it. Something about it even seemed peaceful, leaving out the circumstances.

"You really think this is going to work?" Sam asked, looking at Dean as his face shimmered in the candle light.

"No, not really. But it was the only thing I could come up with," Dean replied with a chuckle.

There was a noise coming from the surrounding woods of the cemetery and the three nodded at each other, getting in position.

Sam grabbed his gun from the back of his jeans, cocking it as he left, following the noise. Dean and Hayley finished up lightning the candles before they went to their respective hiding positions.

He had his gun raised and ready as he looked through a labyrinth of trees and bushes. He followed the occasional sound of breaking twigs and rustling leaves. Sam stopped at a clearance, suddenly noticing someone behind him.

He waited for her to come closer before he spun around, pointing his gun into her face. She stopped, taking a few steps back, looking frightened.

"Wait! It's not what you think. I didn't ask to be brought back. But it's still me. I'm still a person. Please," Angela pleaded desperately.

Sam hesitated for a moment. He felt sorry for her. It was true – she didn't ask for any of this, but still there was only one way out now.

He fired the gun, shooting her right between the eyes. She looked stunned for a moment as the bullet hit her forehead, but eventually she recovered from the initial shock, giving Sam a death stare.

She screamed, cocking her head back and proceeded to leap at him. Sam ran back to the cemetery as fast as he could, Angela not far behind him. _They really should change the lore about slow zombies_ , Sam thought as Angela's grave came into sight.

Unfortunately, he hadn't been fast enough and Angela tackled him, throwing him hard to the ground. He landed on his stomach as the girl crawled over him, taking his head in her hands, ready to snap his neck.

He could see the bolt of lightning in the corner of his eyes, as Hayley grabbed the girl, throwing her of him and he took a deep breath.

The zombie girl was a nasty fighter, clawing her nails into Hayley's arm as she threw her off Sam. She let go of her a few feet away, both girls dropping to the ground. Angela immediately jumped on her, moving her hands to Hayley's throat, trying to choke her. She struggled to breathe, her right hand trying to reach the machete lying next to her.

She grabbed the machete, wriggling her arm free enough to cut through the zombie's leg. There was a loud scream as Angela let go of her throat and Hayley punched her in the face before she kicked the girl off of her and back into the open grave behind them.

Dean came running towards the grave with a long metal stake in his hand. He slid on his knees until he reached the edge of the grave, gracefully jumping into the coffin and staking Angela in the heart, pinning her down for good. She screamed and protested one last time before he drove the stake in further until there were no more movements.

"What's dead should stay dead," he repeated determinedly.

* * *

This time Sam wanted to do the honor of burying her while Dean and Hayley watched him, leaning against the Impala.

"Can't believe you cut off that girl's leg," Dean said, chuckling.

"She was already dead! I mean shooting her didn't help much. What was I supposed to do?" Hayley asked defensively, looking up at him. She definitely felt bad about it. He shook his head at her with a laugh.

"Nothing. You did everything right," he said, a proud smile on his face.

"Yeah...I still think the machete goes back into your possession. At least, until the next zombie comes along," Hayley said, giggling.

"Fair enough," Dean said with a nod.

"Hey, Dean," she said, stopping herself again.

"Hm?" He looked at her. She suddenly seemed quiet, sad even, staring down at her feet.

"You said what's dead should stay dead, but I know you didn't mean your Mom, so…you weren't talking about you, were you?" She looked at him concerned. He averted her eyes, staring down on his own feet now.

"No, c'mon," he brushed her off, laughing, but her face remained serious.

"Dean…?" She said after a small moment of silence. She sounded pensive.

"Hm?"

"Don't go anywhere, okay?" Hayley said, although it sounded more like an order.

"I told you, Speedy. Not going anywhere," he reassured her with a smile.

"Promise?" She raised her brows at him and he chuckled.

"Promise," he agreed with a nod. In reality he couldn't promise her no such thing. But he would at least try now, because he hated nothing more than lie to her.

"Good," she said, a happy smile on her face. She hoped he would listen to her at least for once.

"Rest in peace," Sam announced as he walked back over to the car.

"Yeah. For good this time, hopefully," Dean mumbled and the others chuckled.

"You know, that whole fake ritual thing, luring Angela into the cemetery? Pretty sharp," Sam complimented his older brother.

"Thanks," Dean replied, beaming proudly.

"But did we have to use me as bait?" Sam questioned, looking at them.

"I figured you were more her type. You know, she had pretty crappy taste in guys," Dean replied and Hayley chortled.

"I think she broke my hand," Sam complained and they started to laugh as his little brother looked down on it with a pout.

"You're just too fragile. We'll get it looked at later," Dean said. He looked back to his mother's grave, stopping for a moment.

"You want to stay for a while?" Sam asked, noticing his brother's sudden interest.

"No," Dean replied, turning around to the Impala and loading the rest of their stuff into the trunk.

"Hey, I have some work to do at the lab. Catch you guys later?" Hayley asked with a soft smile.

"Yeah, okay," Dean replied with a nod. "I'll text you where we are tomorrow."

She nodded and gave the boys a goodbye hug before she raced off to Central City.

* * *

They had been on the road for a couple of hours by now and the sun was beginning to set in the west. It was quiet in the car, but his thoughts were loud, hammering against his skull.

He pulled the Impala across the road in the middle of nowhere, coming to a halt on the side of the road. He got out of the car, sitting down on the hood of the car. He took a deep breath. He knew he couldn't do this any longer.

Sam followed soon after, a concerned look on his little brother's face. "Dean, what is it?"

There was silence for a while before Dean finally found the words. "I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"You…for what?" Sam asked confused. Of all the things Sam could think of Dean would say, being sorry hadn't been one of them. He couldn't think of anything his older brother needed to be sorry for.

"The way I've been acting," Dean replied and Sam nodded before he joined Dean on the hood of the Impala, sitting down next to him. "And for Dad. I mean, he was your Dad too. And it's my fault that he's gone."

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked, looking at him worriedly.

"I know you've been thinking it – so have I. Doesn't take a genius to figure it out. Back at the hospital, I made a full recovery. It was a miracle. And five minutes later Dad's dead and the Colt's gone," Dean said. When he first had sprung this theory on Hayley, she responded by biting her lip. She knew as well as he did that his recovery had just been too good to be true.

"Dean," Sam said quietly, which was pretty much his little brother's equivalent to Hayley's lip biting. They all knew it was true, but no one had the guts to actually say it.

"You can't tell me there's not a connection there," Dean argued. "I don't know how the demon was involved. I don't know how the whole thing went down exactly. But Dad's dead because of me. And that much I do know."

"We don't know that. Not for sure," Sam countered, but he knew it was a stretch. Something had been definitely wrong about this day, even he couldn't deny it as much as he wanted to. Not for him, but for his brother.

"Sam…," Dean said, voice breaking as the tears were brimming in his eyes. "You and Dad…you're the most important people in my life. And now…I never should've come back, Sam. It wasn't natural. And now look what's come of it. I was dead. And I should have stayed dead. You wanted to know how I was feeling. Well, that's it. So tell me. What could you possibly say to make that all right?" He looked at his little brother, waiting for an answer, a solution, but there came none. Instead the two of them just stared ahead into the distance, watching the sun set below the horizon.

* * *

 **Central City, Missouri**

She hadn't been here in thirteen years. She had never intended to come back here. She had never seen it again since that night. Maybe she needed to.

She walked up the small stairs to the porch, taking a deep breath before she entered her old house. It was a lot smaller than she remembered. Everything had changed – the walls, the floors, the furniture. But there was still something familiar about it.

She didn't know why she never had come here. When she was little, Joe probably would have forbidden it. But when she grew up, she certainly had all the time and means to come here. But she never did. Just like she had never visited her mother's grave either.

Fear had kept her running for far too long and she was done with it.

Visiting her mother's grave wouldn't provide her any answers. It wouldn't help her get her father out of prison. But this house might. It's were everything had started.

She sat down, crossing her legs, in the middle of the living room, at the place where her Mom was murdered all these years ago, trying to remember all the details like it was yesterday – the water floating upwards in her fish tank, her mother screaming and telling her to run, the yellow and red lighting surrounding her Mom when she walked down the stairs, and then she was gone, blocks away, just like that.

A breeze interrupted her thoughts and she opened her eyes, looking at the curtains waving in the wind. She let out a deep breath, wiping away a tear that had escaped her eyes with a soft smile. "Hey, Mom," she said quietly. She definitely was done running.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Hey guys and welcome back! :)

Hope you loved this chapter as much as I did. I feel so bad for all of them. Hopefully we have some better days soon, but knowing season 2 that might not happen :D  
I feel like this chapter has a lot to do with Dean ultimately making that deal at the end. I honestly can't wait to get to season 3. Season 2 always drags a little, don't you think? (Especially in the middle) Luckily I have some Reverse Flash stuff to make up for it ;)  
Dean and Hayley's relationship will eventually evolve as well and there's gonna be a little more tension towards the end of this story, but if you ship them, you definitely gonna hate this season (I'm sorry guys :D). But next episode I'm focusing a little more on Sam/Hayley, because it's a good episode to get their friendship working.

I also heard rumors that Mxyzptlk is having a crossover with Flash. I mentioned once before that I would love to have him in it and he'd be friends with the Trickster. I was actually thinking of having him in this season. Although I like to have my own OG stories and prefer to only use Flash stuff, I loved that Supergirl episode a lot. Kara was pretty much struggling with people telling her what to do, which I can see with Hayley as well. It would certainly be funny with the Winchesters involved. So let me know if you want Mxyzpltk in this or not ;)

Otherwise, enjoy the last week before Christmas! I'll try to post at least one more chapter before Christmas, so you have something to read over the holidays :)

Happy holidays and thank you guys so much for reading, following, and reviewing this story!


	7. Simon Said

_Talking to myself all the way to the station_  
 _Pictures in my head of the final destination all lined up_  
 _(all the one's that aren't allowed to stay)_  
 _Tried to save myself but myself keeps slipping away_

 _Tried to save a place from the cuts and the scratches_  
 _Tried to overcome the complications and the catches_  
 _Nothing ever grows and the sun doesn't shine all day_  
 _Tried to save myself but myself keeps slipping away_

 _Into the Void_ by **Nine Inch Nails**

* * *

 **7\. Simon Said (SPN 2.05)**

 **Vermont, Illinois**

She closed one eye, concentrating on the target in front of her as she steadied the gun in her hands. He stood still across from her, leaning with a straightened back against the wooden walls of their cabin, a wide grin on his face as he took another sip from his beer.

"You sure about this?" Hayley asked with a frown, dropping the gun again and he sighed.

"Yeah, c'mon. It's like a trust exercise. You love that crap," Dean argued with a smirk.

"It's a pretty crappy trust exercise. I don't know if I can do it. And if I can't, you _die_ , you moron," she countered frustrated. She should have never agreed to this. But after a couple of beers and endless boredom, this sounded like the best idea ever.

"I won't die. Plus, it's only fair you try it once," Dean said and she knitted her brows.

"Try what once?"

"Kill me," Dean replied with a shrug. "I tried to kill you what now…twice?"

"Thrice," she corrected him with an eye roll and he grinned at her. "Are you trying to make me angry, so I shoot you? Because if you are, I might get a little unmotivated to save you," Hayley argued and he chuckled.

"Okay, okay. Just shoot the damn thing already," he ordered her, getting back into position. "I believe in you," he said almost sweetly and she narrowed her eyes at him, aiming the gun at him again. Maybe shooting him at least once, would help with not actually wanting to kill him sometimes.

She pulled the trigger and watched as the bullet raced out of the barrel of the gun. Her eyes adjusted to the speeding object as she ran over to her target. She wasn't much faster than the bullet, but still she had a little time left, so why not have some fun and make it as close as possible. She stood next to Dean as she caught the bullet gracefully before it reached his forehead.

He let out a deep breath before he forced his eyes open again. He had closed them sometime after he heard the shot and the gun dropping to the grass. He looked at her as she stood next to him with a grin, holding the bullet between her fingers above his eyes before she retrieved her hand again. She looked pretty satisfied with herself.

"Told you. Takes more than a bullet to kill Dean Winchester," he said with a smirk.

She leaned in a little closer to him, almost touching him but not quite. "Yeah, we both know you're just lucky you have me," she countered with wink before she went back over to pick up the gun again.

"Yeah, but did you have to make it so close?" Dean asked as he could feel the adrenaline still rushing through his body.

"Well, wouldn't have been fun otherwise," Hayley replied with a smirk and he frowned before he started to laugh himself.

"At least now we know you're faster than a speeding bullet," Dean said, still baffled and let out a low whistle. "Man, I need something stronger than beer after that."

They went back inside the little cabin they had rented near the woods of Vermont. They had stayed local after their last case, mostly hunting down ghosts in neighboring towns until they heard something new about the demon. Hayley had checked in with Ash, but he didn't have any news on the demon either.

The brothers had been quiet too. They had stopped fighting ever since she had left for Central City and she was grateful for the peace between them, although she doubted it would last forever.

Sam had mostly been doing research, trying to find out more about the demon, much to Dean's discontent. So instead he occupied himself by training Hayley. He had finally figured out the best way to train her, was to let her use her powers. Throwing knives at her had been his favorite exercise so far.

He went straight for the minibar in their rented cabin. He had insisted on a cabin since he couldn't just shoot his gun at a girl in the parking lot of a motel in town.

Sam was in the bathroom, the water was still running as he crouched over the sink. They were back – his visions. He ran a hand under the water, scrubbing his face as the door burst open and his older brother walked in.

"Sam, we still got any whiskey left…," Dean said when he finally noticed his little brother's perplexed face. "What?"

* * *

" _Rockin' Nebraska. Your source for the classics, all night long,_ " the radio announced as the Impala had reached the borders of Eastern Nebraska.

Sam had had another vision. He had told them he saw a man committing suicide. It wasn't their usual drill, but he was convinced it had something to do with the demon. His visions always had something to do with it.

"I don't know, man, why don't we just chill out, think about this," Dean still kept saying after two hours on the road.

"What's there to think about?" Sam asked, looking at him as he shut off the radio.

"I just don't know if going to the Roadhouse is the smartest idea," Dean argued. They had decided their best way would be Ash. Hayley had researched a symbol for a bus line Sam had given her back to Guthrie, Oklahoma, but otherwise they didn't have any other leads to go on and without Ash's computer, Hayley couldn't check the town for demonic omens.

"Dean, it's another premonition. I know it. This is gonna happen, and Ash can tell us where exactly. You heard Hayley or do you need her to explain the science stuff again," Sam said almost threateningly and Dean shot him a look.

"No once was enough, but…," Dean tried to argue, but was shut down again.

"Plus it could have some connection with the demon. My visions always do," Sam added eagerly.

"That's my point. There's gonna be hunters there. I don't know if, if, if going in and announcing that you're some supernatural freak with a, a demonic connection is the best thing, okay?" Dean finally stammered out his real concerns. Hayley cleared her throat behind him as she leaned in closer to the front seats.

"So I'm a freak now?" Sam asked, giving him a reproachful look while Hayley narrowed her eyes angrily at him.

Dean swallowed hard before he slapped Sam on the thigh, forcing himself to smile. "You've always been a freak."

* * *

 **Nebraska**

A couple of hours later the Impala had reached the Harvelle's Roadhouse. The three passed a couple of men cleaning their guns at a table undisturbed like it was the most normal thing in the world, but it seemed to be in a hunter's tavern.

The bar was full with people this time, apparently from all over the place, mostly hunters and truckers driving through.

Dean almost ran into Jo, getting lost in all those people around him. The blond stopped in front of him with a happy smile.

"Just can't stay away, huh?" She said with a smirk and he chuckled.

"Yeah, looks like. How you doin', Jo?" Dean asked, smiling.

"Where's Ash?" Sam interrupted them hurriedly and Hayley punched him slightly in the arm, earning her a frown from him.

"In his back room," Jo replied with a frown and Sam nodded.

"Great," he mumbled as he rushed past her to Ash's office. Hayley followed eagerly after him.

"And I'm fine…," Jo called after them.

"Sorry, he's, she's, we're…kind of on a bit of a timetable," Dean excused himself apologetically, following after his two road buddies.

Ash's office in a back room of the roadhouse wasn't hard to miss. There was a sign on his door, reading _Dr. Badass is – In_.

"Ash? Hey, Ash?" Sam knocked on his door a couple of times. There were loud TV noises coming from inside and various other unidentifiable sounds.

"Hey, Dr. Badass?" Hayley called out, knocking on the door herself as Dean joined them.

The door opened a crack to reveal a butt-naked Ash in all his glory. Dean immediately averted his eyes while Hayley's dropped below waistline.

"Whoa, that's way more than I expected," she commented with an awkward chuckle.

"Hayley, good to see you," Ash said with a smirk and Dean threw them both a look as Sam stared on, still in shock.

"Okay, that's enough." Dean held her eyes closed with his hand and she protested.

"Sam? Dean? Sam and Dean," Ash greeted them as he finally paid attention to the brothers.

"Hey Ash. Uhm, we need your help," Sam said.

"Well, hell then. Guess I need my pants," Ash announced excited.

"Oh, c'mon. Who needs pants?" Hayley joked before Dean used his other hand to shut her mouth before he dragged her back to the bar.

* * *

Ash had set up his computer on one of the tables, sipping easily on a beer as he looked into the screen. They had shown him the bus logo Sam had drawn and Ash pretty much came to the same conclusion as Hayley.

"Well, I got a match. It's the logo from the Blue Ridge bus lines in Guthrie, Oklahoma," Ash confirmed.

"Same as me. Can you check Guthrie for any demon stuff. Omens, signs…," Hayley told him and he nodded compliantly.

"You guys think the demon's there?" Ash asked curiously.

"Yeah, maybe," Sam replied.

"Why would you think that?" Ash asked, raising his brows at them.

"Just check it, all right?" Dean snapped a little annoyed and Ash shot him a look while Sam and Hayley frowned at him.

"No, lady and gentlemen, nothing. No demon," Ash replied as he had finished typing in the parameters.

"All right, try something else for me. Search Guthrie for a house fire. It would be 1983, fire's origin would be a baby's nursery, night of the kid's six month birthday," Sam said and Ash looked at him startled. Dean and Hayley shared a look before Dean looked around the room for any potential eavesdroppers.

"Okay, now that is just weird, man. Why the hell would I be looking for that," Ash pointed out, looking at them.

Sam pulled out a beer bottle, setting it on the table in front of Ash. He already eyed it greedily. "'Cause there's a PBR in it for ya," Sam said persuasively.

"Give me fifteen minutes," Ash replied, suddenly motivated and silent.

* * *

He was sitting at the bar while his little brother and Hayley were across the room, shooting some pool. He had been thinking a lot these days about Sam's psychic abilities. For a moment, he had hoped they had vanished until they resurfaced again this very morning.

REO Speedwagon's _Can't Fight This Feeling_ started to play on the jukebox and he rolled his eyes at that song when he looked over to the young blond culprit standing in front of it. She picked up a tray with glasses, walking back over to the bar when she noticed his disgusted face.

"What?" Jo asked, a little annoyed at his apparent revulsion for her music selection.

"REO Speedwagon?" Dean raised an eyebrow questioningly at her.

"Damn right REO. Kevin Cronin sings it from the heart," Jo replied confidently, tapping her own heart once.

"He sings it from the hair. There's a difference," Dean said amused and Jo leaned in closer to him.

"That profile you've got Ash looking for?" Jo asked and Dean looked at her before he took a swift look around the room, especially the people in it. He didn't like to advertise their current case. "Your mom died the same way, didn't she? A fire in Sam's nursery?" Her curiosity peaked.

"Look, Jo, it's kind of a family thing," Dean replied resolutely.

"What about Hayley?" Jo asked with a smirk, pointing over to the brunette playing pool with Sam.

"That's different. Kind of a long story," Dean said and Jo responded with a nod. He didn't like to think it was because of Hayley's powers that she was with the brothers. They were friends. But without them, he probably wouldn't have let her set foot into the Impala. There was just no need for other people to get hurt over their misery.

"I could help," Jo offered hopefully.

"I'm sure you could," Dean said with a smile before turning back to his drink. "But we've got to handle this one ourselves. Besides, if I ran off with you I think your mother might kill me," he replied, looking over to Ellen cleaning glasses behind the bar with a nervous smile. She gave him a stern look before turning back to her task.

"You're afraid of my mother?" Jo asked with chuckle.

"I think so," Dean replied, still smiling nervously before Sam and Hayley came running over to him.

"We have a match. We've gotta go," Sam informed him, storming out in a hurry.

"Yeah, what he said. So wrap this up, Tiger," Hayley said with a grin, gesturing at him and Jo before she hit his back once and followed after Sam.

Dean stared angrily after her before he turned back to Jo with an embarrassed smile. "All right, Jo. See you later," he said quickly and ran after the others.

* * *

" _And even as I wander, I'm keeping you in sight. You're a candle in the window on a cold dark winter night. And I'm getting closer than I ever thought I might…_ ," Dean sang loudly the lyrics to REO Speedwagon while he drove the Impala towards Oklahoma.

Sam stared perplexed at his brother before he noticed Hayley laughing in the backseat. "You're kidding, right?" Sam interrupted Dean's singing session.

He stopped, finally realizing he was in a car with other people. He looked a little embarrassed at them, hearing Hayley chortle behind him.

"I heard the song somewhere, I can't get it out of my head, I don't know, man," Dean replied defensively.

"I'm sure," Hayley commented with a smirk and he threw her a look.

"Whaddya got?" Dean asked, turning back to his little brother in the passenger seat.

"Andrew Gallagher. Born in eighty three, like me. Lost his mother in a nursery fire exactly six months later, also like me," Sam replied, looking at the stack of papers in front of him.

"You think the demon killed his Mom?" Dean asked, looking at him.

"Sure looks like it," Sam replied.

"How did you even know to look for this guy?" Hayley asked, leaning in between their seats to get a better look at Sam's papers.

"Every premonition I've had, if they're not about the demon they're about the other kids the demon visited," Sam replied. "Like Max Miller, remember him?" Sam asked, looking at Dean again.

"He killed his father and uncle in Michigan with Telekinesis, right?" Hayley asked, remembering the case. She had just started following the brothers and it was also the first time she found out about Sam's own abilities, much like Dean.

"Yeah, but Max Miller was a pasty little psycho," Dean said with a nod.

"The point is he was killing people. And I was having the same type of visions about him. And now it could be happening all over again with this Gallagher guy," Sam said, looking at them.

"How do we find him?" Dean asked.

"Don't know. No current address, no current employment," Sam replied.

"He still owes money on all his bills – phone, credit, utilities…," Hayley chimed in, looking into her tablet screen.

"Collection agency flags?" Dean asked.

"None in the system," Hayley replied, handing the tablet forward for Sam to take a look.

"They just let him take a walk?" Dean asked doubtingly.

"Seems like it," Sam said with a shrug. There was definitely something odd about that. "There's a work address from his last W-2, about a year ago. Let's start there," he suggested and the others nodded in agreement.

* * *

 **Guthrie, Oklahoma**

A few hours later and the three turned in at a local coffee shop, or aka Andrew Gallagher's former workplace.

The brothers wore suits and ties, sitting down at a small table in the middle of the room while Hayley sat down at the bar, ordering some coffee and diner food.

A young, dirty blond waitress was pouring the boys some coffee when they started asking her about Andrew Gallagher.

"You won't get anything out of Andy, guys. I'm sorry, but they never do," she replied apologetically.

" _They_?" Sam asked, raising a brow at that expression.

"You're debt collectors, right? Once in a while they come by. I don't know what Andy says to them, but they never come back," the waitress explained, not questioning it any further.

"Actually we're, we're lawyers. Representing his Great Aunt Leta. She passed, God rest her soul, and left Andy a sizable estate," Dean said with a smile and she nodded.

"Yeah. So are you a friend of his?" Sam asked her.

"I used to be, yeah. I don't see much of Andy anymore," she replied with a sad look in her eyes.

The young waiter, who was serving Hayley dropped the food in front of her before he excitedly stormed over to the brothers' table.

"Andy? Andy kicks ass, man," the waiter told them enthusiastically.

"Is that right?" Dean asked curiously.

"Yeah. Andy can get you into anything. He even got me backstage at Aerosmith once, it was beautiful, bro," the waiter replied with a grin and Dean nodded with a smile.

"How about bussing a table or two, Weber?" The young waitress reminded him and he looked at her apologetically.

"Yeah. You bet, boss," Weber replied before he went back behind the bar.

"Look, if you want to find him, try Orchard Street. Just look for a van with a barbarian queen painted on the side," the waitress told them.

"Barbarian queen?" Dean asked, raising his brows.

"She's riding a polar bear. It's kind of hard to miss," she replied with a smirk.

* * *

The three decided to stake out Orchard Street and soon enough they found a blue van with a barbarian queen painted on the side, riding a polar bear. The waitress couldn't have described it any better.

"I'm sorry, I'm starting to like this dude. That van is sweet," Dean said with a chuckle, looking at them before he noticed Sam's grim face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Sam replied quietly. Dean looked back at Hayley, who shrugged her shoulders.

"Sam, you look like you're sucking on a lemon, what's going on?" Dean asked again, getting a little more impatient.

"This Andrew Gallagher, he's the second guy like this we've found, Dean. Demon came to them when they were kids, now they're killing people," Sam said and Hayley realized where this was going. She had thought about this a lot herself and she knew Dean hadn't. At least, not like she and Sam had.

"We don't know what Andrew Gallagher is, all right? He could be innocent," Dean argued.

"My visions haven't been wrong yet," Sam countered, even though he hadn't had an explicit vision of Andrew Gallagher.

"What's your point?" Dean asked.

"My point is, I'm one of them," Sam finally spit out, looking over at the van. Dean shared a brief glance with Hayley, who shook her head slightly at him. She was the only one, who kept reminding him that Sam wasn't and could never be evil. He would always be his little brother.

"No, you're not," Dean said with a sigh.

"Dean, the demon said he had plans for me and children like me," Sam reminded him.

"Yeah?" Dean questioned, pretending not to know where this conversation was going.

"Yeah, maybe this is his plan, maybe we're all a bunch of psychic freaks, maybe we're all supposed to be-," Sam argued his point further.

"What, killers?" Dean offered with a scoff.

"Yeah," Sam said.

"So the demon wants you out there killing with your minds, is that it? Come on, give me a break. You're not a murderer, Sam! You don't have it in your bones," Dean said, looking at him firmly.

"No? Last I checked, I kill all kinds of things," Sam said.

"Those things were asking for it. There's a difference," Dean argued.

"Hayley doesn't kill them," Sam countered and the brothers looked back at her.

"People are…different," Hayley replied with a shrug.

"That's what you come up with?" Dean looked at her annoyed, raising his brows.

"Guys," Sam interrupted their bickering and the three watched as a young guy, wearing pajamas and a long, black satin robe exited a neighboring house. "Got him."

A blonde, attractive woman in her lingerie looked out the second-story window, blowing a kiss down at Andy, walking happily down the street. He greeted a man, passing by, chatting him up as the man handed over his coffee to the guy in the robe.

"That's him. That older guy, that's him, that's the shooter," Sam said, gesturing at an older African-American man talking to Andy.

"All right, you two keep on him, I'll stick with Andy. Go," Dean ordered them and Sam and Hayley jumped out of the car.

Andy got into his van, leaving, and Dean started the engine of the Impala, following him slowly. The van stopped a few streets over and Andy got out of it, walking back towards Dean in the Impala. He quickly tucked a handgun into his jacket before he pulled down the window.

"Hey," Andy greeted him with a smile.

"Hey, hey," Dean greeted him suspiciously. He wasn't sure if Andy knew he had been following him.

"This is a cheery ride," Andy said with a smile, gesturing at his Baby.

"Yeah, thanks," Dean replied with an awkward chuckle.

"Man, the '67? Impala's best year if you ask me. This is a serious classic," Andy said excitedly, inspecting it closer.

"Yeah. You know, I just rebuilt her, too," Dean admitted proudly.

"Yeah?" Andy asked.

"Yeah, can't let a car like this one go," Dean replied with a happy smile.

"Damn straight. Hey. Can I have it?" Andy suddenly asked.

"Sure, man," he replied, jumping out of the Impala at the command.

"Sweet," Andy said thrilled.

"Hop right in there. There ya go," Dean said, still smiling as he helped Andy get in before he closed the door for him.

"Take it easy," Andy told him before he drove off in Dean's car.

"All right," Dean said with a big smile, waving at him as the Impala drove into the distance. And then it suddenly began to dawn on him.

* * *

Sam and Hayley followed the older man to a busier street downtown. A lot of people were walking past them, shopping at the local stores.

"Sam, what you said in the car earlier…," Hayley started and Sam shot her a brief look.

"Yeah?" He asked, keeping his eyes on their target again.

"You know I don't think you could ever become evil, right?" She said, smiling softly.

"Yeah, I know. I just worry, you know?" He said and she nodded understandingly. "The evidence speaks for itself."

"Don't go all lawyer on me, little Winchester," Hayley reprimanded him jokingly and he chuckled. "Look, there's a bunch of evil meta-humans out there and like it or not, different circumstances and I could've been one of them. I know it's easier living like the universe is against you, but truth is, you have to fight every damn day to do good, whether it's small or big things. May it be a cat stuck on a tree or smoking a ghost in an old folks' home. And you do a lot of those little good deeds…and a lot of big ones too."

They had stopped walking a while ago as the man had stopped as well to talk on the phone. Sam looked at her for a moment. He appreciated that someone believed in the good in him. He knew a lot of people did. The problem was he didn't want to disappoint those people.

"Yeah, but meta-human powers are neutral. What if mine...come from somewhere evil? What if they come from the demon, Hayles? I don't know. Sometimes it all just seems…impossible to do," Sam said, looking at her.

"Nothing's impossible, Sam. Just believe in that," she said with a smile before they turned their attention back to the older man. The scene unfolded just like it had in Sam's vision. The man got off his phone, crossing the street in front of a _Blue Ridge_ bus before he entered the local sporting store, where he would eventually pick up a gun and shoot the store owner, before shooting himself.

Sam shared a look with Hayley before he gave her a nod and she raced inside the store in front of the old man, pulling the fire alarm. She ran back over to Sam as a bunch of people, including the shooter, exited the store in a hurry.

They looked on as the man kept wandering down the street confused when they suddenly saw the Impala driving past, but instead of their usual driver, Andy seemed to be sitting in Dean's Baby.

"Uh, what the hell is going on?" Hayley asked, mouth wide open.

"Call him. I'll keep an eye on our guy," Sam said as he watched the older man getting another phone call.

"Dean, where the hell are you? Did you know Andy has your car?" Hayley said as Dean picked up the phone and she put him on speaker for Sam.

" _I know! He just sorta asked me for it and I, I let him take it,_ " Dean explained distressed and a little embarrassed.

"You _what_?" Sam asked, looking shocked now. His older brother even made a fuss when he wanted to drive for a change.

" _He full-on Obi-Wanned me. It's mind control, guys_ ," Dean explained and they shared a look.

Suddenly they heard a crash and the two turned their heads to the street in horror. The older man had just walked in front of a bus.

* * *

Dean found the two sitting at the curb of the boardwalk as paramedics put the older man from before into a body bag. His two companions looked miserably and Hayley had visibly cried, but was now resting her head on Sam's shoulder. He walked over to them, putting a hand down on Sam's back.

"I kept him out of the gun store. I thought he was okay. I thought he was past it, at least…I should have stayed with him," Sam said guiltily.

"It's not your fault. I mean you'd think I could save someone from a stupid freaking bus," Hayley threw in sadly. She was angry at herself. One second sooner and she might have been fast enough to save that man's life.

"This is no one's fault, okay? Now you two stop the sulking. We still have a case to work," Dean reminded them and they nodded determinedly.

* * *

Hayley only needed to race a few blocks up and down until she found Dean's beloved car again and led the brothers to it.

"Thank God! Oh. I'm sorry, Baby. I'll never leave you again," Dean ran over to the Impala apologetically, hugging it. "Well, at least he left the keys in it," he mumbled as he looked inside the open window and the keys in the ignition.

"Yeah. Real Samaritan, this guy," Sam scoffed.

"Well, it looks like he can't work his mojo just by twitching his nose, he's gotta use verbal commands," Dean said.

"The doctor had just gotten off his cell phone when he stepped in front of that bus," Hayley said and Sam nodded.

"Andy must have called him or something," Sam said.

"I don't know, maybe," Dean said, shrugging.

"Beg your pardon?" Sam asked, looking at Dean confused.

"I just don't know if he's our guy, Sam," Dean replied.

"Dean, you had O.J. convicted before he got out of his white Bronco and you have doubts about this?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He just doesn't seem like the stone-cold killer type, that's all," Dean said defensively. "You know. And O.J. was guilty."

"Either way, he clearly has powers. So how are we going to track him down?" Hayley chimed in, looking at them.

"Not a problem," Dean replied with a mysterious grin.

* * *

Dean led them back to Andy's blue van. The three stood in front of its back doors.

"Not exactly an inconspicuous ride. Let's have a look," Dean announced as he pulled out a small crowbar from his jacket, opening the back door with it.

They looked around the interior and it was pretty much like the exterior – flamboyant. A disco ball was hanging from the ceiling and the walls and floor were covered with fur rugs. There was a tiger painted on one of the walls and a couple of books were lying around a bunch of other junk.

"Oh. Oh, come on. This is…," Dean said, rummaging through Andy's stuff. "This is magnificent, that's what this is. Not exactly a serial killer's lair, though. There's no…clown paintings on the walls, or scissors stuck in victims' photos. I like the tiger," he commented with a shrug and Sam threw him an annoyed look.

"Hegel, Kant, Wittgenstein?" Sam said, raising his brows as he looked through Andy's book collection. "That's some pretty heavy reading, Dean."

"Oh c'mon, Sam. Little philosophy never hurt anyone," Hayley argued, looking at him.

"Yeah, and uh, and Moby Dick's bong," Dean said as he picked up a giant bong amongst Andy's stuff, but Sam still threw them both a doubtful look.

* * *

The three were back in the Impala, staking out near Andy's van again. This time they didn't even bother to look for a motel room and Dean and Hayley were eating their lunch out of a foil wrapper while Sam kept studying the stack of papers in his lap. He had opted out to get local crappy diner food.

"Ugh. You know, one day I'd love to just sit down and eat something I didn't have to microwave at a minimart," Dean said, looking disgusted down at his so-called food.

"What I don't get is the motive. I mean, the doctor was squeaky clean, why would Andy waste him?" Sam asked, looking back at Hayley.

"I don't know. Could be anything. We just gotta keep looking," she replied, taking another bite from her burger before she spit it back into a napkin with a repulsed face and Dean chuckled.

"If it is Andy," Dean chimed in and Sam threw him another look.

"Dude, enough," Sam said annoyed.

"What?" Dean asked, shrugging.

"The doctor was mind-controlled in front of a bus. Andy just happens to have the power of mind control. You do the math," Sam snapped, but Dean shook his head.

"I just don't think the guy's got it in him, that's all," Dean argued.

"Well, how the hell would you know? I mean, why are you bending over backwards defending him?" Sam asked, getting angrier now at his older brother's ignorance.

"'Cause you're not right about this," Dean insisted.

"About Andy?" Sam asked, lifting his brows in disbelief.

"Uh, guys," Hayley interrupted them and the boys spun around.

"What?" They asked simultaneously when Andy suddenly appeared next to Sam's opened window, slamming his hands down, leaning inside.

"Hey! You think I haven't seen you three? Why are you following me?" Andy asked them angrily. His words still lingered in their heads, repeating themselves, manifesting themselves inside their thoughts.

"Well, we're lawyers. See, a relative of yours has passed aw-," Sam explained calmly, but Andy was having none of his nonsense.

"Tell the truth!" He demanded and his words grew stronger in Dean's and Hayley's head.

"That's what I'm…," Sam tried to explain.

"We hunt demons," Dean interrupted his little brother. Sam looked at him shocked, noticing the panic on his brother's face.

"I'm a meta-human," Hayley confessed and Sam shot her a look too.

"What?" Andy asked, looking confused at the two.

"Guys!" Sam tried to stop them frantically.

"Demons and spirits. Things your worst nightmares wouldn't even touch. Sam here, he's my brother," Dean continued his babbling.

"Yeah, and I help them save people that monsters like you wanna murder. You actually might know me from the news. I'm the Flash," Hayley told him happily. She didn't know what was happening to her. She couldn't help the word-vomit that came out of her mouth.

"Guys, shut up!" Sam urged them panicked.

"I'm _trying_ ," Dean assured him through gritted teeth before turning back to Andy. "My brother…he's psychic. Kind of like you. Well, not really like you, but see, he thinks you're a murderer, and he's afraid that he's going to become one himself, 'cause you're all part of something that's terrible. And, I hope to hell that he's wrong, but I'm starting to get a little scared that he might be right," Dean told Andy with a smile.

"Okay, you know what?" Andy asked, seemingly full of their crap. " _Just leave me alone_."

His words echoed through their heads like a bad migraine while Sam got out of the car, not being affected by Andy's powers at all.

"What are you doing? Look, I, I said leave me alone. All right? Get out of here, just start driving and never stop," Andy told Sam, but he just shook his head determinedly.

"Doesn't seem to work on me, Andy," Sam said, walking closer to him.

"What?" Andy asked confused.

"You can make people do things, can't you? You can tell them what to think," Sam said as Dean and Hayley got out of the Impala, following them. Sam held out a hand at them, making them stop. Andy couldn't affect him, but he sure as hell could control them.

"Look, tha…that's crazy," Andy denied with a laugh.

"It all started about a year ago, didn't it? After you turned twenty-two. Little stuff at first, and then you got better at controlling it," Sam said, recounting his own ability.

"How do you know all this?" Andy asked with a shocked look on his face, stopping for the first time.

"Because the same thing happened to me, Andy. My Mom died in a fire, too. I have abilities too. You see, we're connected, you and me," Sam said carefully.

"You know what? Just, just, just, just get out of here, all right?!" Andy told him, but Sam just shook his head again.

"Why did you tell the doctor to walk in front of a bus?" Sam asked.

"What?" Andy asked, looking baffled.

Suddenly, another set of images flashed in front of his eyes, followed by a bad headache that made him cringe. "Why did you kill him?" Sam forced out through the stinging in his head.

"I didn't!" Andy said before more images hit Sam and he knelt down on the concrete, barely able to take the pain now as another death vision appeared inside his head.

Dean and Hayley ran to his side and Dean caught him gently, helping him get a grip on the asphalt.

"Sam? What is it?" Dean asked worriedly.

"Look, I didn't do anything to him," Andy assured them, holding up his empty hands.

"A woman. A woman burning alive," Sam stuttered out.

"What else'd you get?" Dean asked further.

"A gas station, a woman is gonna kill herself," Sam muttered out of breath.

"I'll check the local gas stations," Hayley announced and Dean nodded before she sped away.

"Whoa, what!" Andy exclaimed, looking after her. "You guys really weren't lying. What does he mean, going to? What is he, what is…"

"Shut up!" Dean said firmly, throwing Andy a look.

"She gets triggered by a call on her cell," Sam said, starting to slowly feel better now.

"When?" Dean asked.

"I don't know," Sam replied and Dean helped him back up to a standing position. "But as long as we keep our eyes on this son of a bitch he can't hurt her," he said, glaring over at Andy.

"I didn't hurt anybody," Andy said perplexed at the accusation.

"Yeah, not yet," Sam scoffed.

The three turned around to the sound of sirens in the distance and soon enough a fire truck rushed down the street, lights blazing.

"Go," Sam said to Dean, who nodded. "Hayley's probably already there." He got into the Impala and drove off, just as Andy was trying to use the distraction to disappear. Sam stopped him with a hand on the little guy's chest. "No, not you. You're staying here with me."

* * *

The firemen were still extinguishing the fire when Dean arrived at the gas station. In the middle of a lot of flames and smoke was his speedster friend. Her eyes were red from the stinging smoke and probably the crying. He hugged her, patting her shoulder when he called Sam.

"Hey, it's me. She's dead. Burned up, just like you said," Dean said.

" _When?_ " Sam asked and he looked down at Hayley.

"Seconds before Hayley got here. I mean the smell hasn't even cleared yet. What's up with your visions, man? This wasn't even a head start," Dean complained. If even Hayley wasn't fast enough, no one would be.

" _I don't know, all right? I can't control them, I don't know what the hell is going on_ ," Sam replied defensively.

"Listen, you were with Andy when this whole thing went down, so it, it can't be him, it's gotta be somebody else doing this," Dean said and Hayley looked up at him. He had doubted his theory too, but Andy couldn't have done this.

" _That doesn't make any sense_ ," Sam said, but had to admit Andy was a very unlikely suspect now.

"What else is new? Well, I'll dig around here, see what else I can find," Dean said, hanging up.

"I'll talk to the cops. See what they know about the woman," Hayley said, getting out of his grip.

"No, I got this. Go back to Sam and babysit Andy. See that they don't kill each other with their minds," Dean said. _Poor girl, had seen enough bodies for a day_ , he thought.

"Okay," she nodded with a grateful smile. She hated seeing people die, especially when she had been that close to saving them.

* * *

She found Sam and Andy sitting across from each other on an abandoned truck and walked over to them, sitting down next to Sam.

"Hey, you're back," Sam said with a soft smile, but noticed Hayley's bad mood immediately.

"Yeah, Dean's still talking to the cops," she replied quietly.

"So, you're a meta-human and apparently pretty fast?" Andy asked, looking at her, but she just stared at him in response and shrugged. "And you, you get these premonitions of people about to die?" Andy asked, looking at Sam now, who nodded. "That's impossible."

"If I had a dime for every time people said that…," Hayley mumbled and Sam laughed.

"A lot of people would say the same thing about what you do," Sam said to Andy with a chuckle.

"But… _death_ visions," Andy said, weighing his ability against Sam's.

"Yeah," Sam nodded.

"Dude, that sucks. I mean, like, when I got my mind thing? It was like a gift, you know, it was, it was like I won the Lotto," Andy explained and Hayley understood that. It's how she felt when she found out about her powers.

"But you still live in a van. I don't get it, I mean, you could…have anything you ever wanted," Sam said, looking at him questioningly.

"I mean, I, I got everything I need," Andy replied with a shrug.

"So you're really not a killer, huh?" Sam asked and Hayley chuckled next to him. It certainly had taken the youngest Winchester a long time to read the non-serial killer signs on Andy's forehead.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you!" Andy said with a laugh.

"That's good. Means there's hope for both of us," Sam said with a smile.

"Looks, like you guys are becoming friends," Hayley said with a smile and Sam returned it. She knew he was happy, knowing there was another good person out there like him. She had felt the same way about Bette and Mike.

The three got up when the Impala pulled back into the street and Dean got out of his car.

"Victim's name was Holly Beckett, forty-one, single," Dean said straight away without even saying a hello first.

"Who is she?" Sam asked, looking at Andy.

"Never heard of her," Andy said with a shrug.

"Called Ash on the way over here. He came up with a little something," Dean said, glancing at Hayley. She looked at him like he had substituted her, but she knew he was just trying to give her a small break and she wished she could do the same for him. She knew he must've been crawling up the walls by now, if anything what he said was true under Andy's personal truth serum. "Apparently Holly Beckett gave birth when she was eighteen years old, back in 1983. Same day you were born, Andy," Dean continued.

"Andy, were you adopted?" Hayley asked, looking at him.

"Well, yeah," he replied, shrugging.

"You _were_? And you neglected to mention that?" Dean asked.

"Never really came up," Andy said apologetically. "I mean, I, I never knew my birth parents, and, and like you said my adopted mom died when I was a baby. Do you, do you think this Holly woman could actually be my m…"

"I don't know," Dean replied calmly. "I tried to get a copy of the birth records, but they're hard copy only, sealed in the county office."

"Well, screw that," Andy said with a grin and the three looked at him.

* * *

The three had never gotten this easily into anything, let alone to access official records. Andy had sweet-talked the guard, giving them all the time they needed to do their research.

"Awesome," Dean said as he listened to Andy talk to the guard while Sam and Hayley got out a few boxes with files.

Hayley speed-read through them until she found what they were looking for, holding out a file. "I got it," she announced and Sam snatched the paper from her.

"Yeah?" Dean asked, lifting his brows.

"Yeah. Andy, it's true. Holly Beckett was your birth mother," Sam told him.

"Huh. Does anyone have a Vicodin?" Andy asked, not really being sure he was joking this time.

"Dr. Jennings was her doctor, too, I mean, he oversaw the adoption. You have a solid connection to both of them," Sam said further and Andy's eyes widened in shock. Hayley was sure he would faint soon as she watched the color drain from his cheeks.

"Yeah, but I, I didn't kill them," Andy repeated and the three nodded sympathetically.

"We believe you," Dean assured him. "But uh, who did?"

"I think I got a pretty good guess. Holly Beckett gave birth to twins," Sam said, sharing a look with Hayley. Evil twins probably came right after her fear of zombies.

A few hours later and Hayley had trace down Andy's twin brother. She was sitting with her glasses focused on the computer, while Dean stood near the printer handing a nervously pacing Sam, everything Hayley could find.

"I have an evil twin," Andy mumbled. He had been repeating those exact words for the last hour as he sat in a chair, hands folded before his head.

"Holly put you and your brother up for adoption. And you went to the Gallagher family, obviously, and your brother went to the Weems family from upstate," Sam said, reading through the files.

"Andy, how you doin'? Still with us?" Dean asked, patting him slightly on the back.

"Uhm. What was my brother's name?" Andy asked, looking up at the,

"Ansen Weems. He has a local address," Hayley replied without looking up from the screen.

"He, he lives here?" Andy asked shocked.

"Yup, I'm pulling his picture from the DMV database right now," Hayley said.

"Let's get a look at him," Dean said as he waited in front of the printer.

"Holy crap," Hayley said as she stared at her screen in shock. Dean looked down at the papers in his hands. He recognized the face too.

"Hate to kick you while you're freaked. Take a look at that," Dean said, walking over to Andy and handing him the papers. Andy took one look at the photo before he looked back up at him in shock. Andy knew him too.

* * *

The four left the county office in a hurry, driving back to the coffee shop, where Andy's twin brother worked. It was the weird waiter guy, called Weber, who the three had met earlier.

"All right, Andy. Tell us everything you know about this guy," Sam said, looking back at Andy through the rearview mirror. He was sharing the backseat with Hayley, who seemed a little annoyed at the fact that even her last place of privacy had been taken away.

"Well, I mean, not much. I…Weber shows up one day, eight months ago? Acting like he's my best friend in the world. Kinda weird, like, trying too hard, you know?" Andy explained and they nodded.

"Must have known you guys were twins. Why did he change his name? Why not just tell you the truth?" Dean said as Sam started cringing next to him, rubbing his eyes. Hayley watched him, sensing he was getting another vision. She tried to look out for his signs, so she could understand his ability better, maybe even help him. She had wondered many times if it wasn't better for Sam to try and take control of his power's. She knew it must suck to be your own ability's bitch. But she was scared to bring that idea up to Dean. He definitely would disagree with her.

"No idea," Andy replied before Sam gasped in pain, clutching his head again and Hayley put a hand on his shoulder for comfort.

"Sam?" Dean's eyes shot to his little brother.

Sam cried out in panic, suddenly trying to open the door of the moving car.

"Sam? Sam! Sam!" Dean yelled and pulled the Impala to the side of the road, coming to stop and Sam immediately shoved the door open, leaning outside, gripping his head harder.

Dean jumped out of the car, running to his brother's side. Concern all over his face. He grabbed his shoulders, kneeling down beside him. "Hey. Hey!"

* * *

Hayley had gotten Sam some water and some whiskey for the two other guys before they jumped back into the Impala. Sam had had another vision. This time images of the young waitress, who also was Andy's ex-girlfriend Tracy, flashed in front of him as Weber made her jump from a dam. Andy told them there was only one dam in town and only one bridge that led to it.

Dean parked the Impala not far from that bridge and they decided to walk the rest as they gathered a few weapons from the trunk.

"Guys, you two should stay back," Sam said, looking at Dean and Hayley.

"No argument here. Had my head screwed with enough for one day," Dean replied and Hayley looked at him as Sam walked back over to Andy with a nod.

"I don't like this, Winchester," Hayley said, biting her lip worriedly.

"Yeah, me neither. But there's nothing either of us can do against mind control. It's just up to these guys now," Dean said with a shrug.

"I know. I just don't like feeling useless," Hayley said with a frown and Dean chuckled.

"You and me both, Speedy," he agreed, closing the trunk of the Impala as he tucked his gun in the small of his back.

* * *

Andy and Sam arrived just in time on the dam. Weber was still in the car with Tracy. The girl was crying, telling by her smudged mascara and her blouse was unbuttoned. Of course, he wasn't just a serial killer, he was a creep too.

Sam smashed in the car window on Weber's side and he ducked as the glass shattered over his head. Sam shoved a handgun into the opened window, holding it into the guy's face.

"Get out of the car! Now!" Sam ordered him.

"You really don't want to do this," Weber told him, clearly thinking his powers would work on him.

Sam backhanded him hard while Andy safely got Tracy out of the car. He opened Weber's door, keeping the gun at his face while he pulled him out, pinning him facedown to the asphalt, holding the gun to the back of his head now.

"Don't move. Don't move!" Sam ordered him. Andy came to his side, immediately taping Weber's mouth shut. When he was down, he kicked his twin brother twice, a sudden fury washing over him before Sam pulled him back.

"No! No, Andy, let me handle this, all right?" Sam tried to calm him, his back turned to Weber on the ground.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Andy yelled angrily at him.

"No! I'll handle this, I'll handle this!" Sam repeated.

"I will kill you!" Andy kept yelling.

"Andy! Listen to me! Listen to me!" Sam said firmer now, shaking his shoulders. Suddenly Tracy stood behind him, picking up a large wooden stick from the ground. She hit Sam hard in the neck with it and his body immediately hit the floor, unconscious.

"Tracy, stop! I said _stop it_!" Andy ordered her and the woman stopped, dropping the stick with a terrified expression on her face.

"How did you do that?" Andy asked, looking back over at Weber, who got back up on his feet, removing the duct tape from his mouth.

"Practice, bro. If you'd just practice, you would know. Sometimes you don't need to use your words. If you have to," Weber explained, tapping his forehead. "All you need is this. Sometimes the headache's worth it."

"You're a twisted son of a bitch!" Andy yelled at him, grabbing him by his shirt.

"Back off, Andy. Or Tracy's gonna do a little flying. Aren't you, Trace?" Weber warned him, looking over to the young blond, who was suddenly standing at the edge of the dam, ready to jump. "I'm stronger than you. I can do it," he threatened Andy.

"Okay, okay," Andy agreed, backing away a few steps, hands in the air. "Okay. All right, just…just please don't hurt her."

"Don't be mad at me, okay? I know, it's, it's all wrong. I didn't mean for this to happen, it's just…Tracy? She's trying to come between us," Weber explained himself.

"You're insane," Andy mumbled like he couldn't even believe it himself.

"She's garbage! Man, they all are! We can, we can push them, we can make them do whatever we want!" Weber exclaimed excitedly.

"Are you really…are you really this stupid? Is it…," Andy muttered, lost for words. "I mean, you, you learn you've got a twin, you call him up, you go out for a drink, you don't start killing people!"

Sam was starting to come to consciousness again as he listened to the twins' conversation. Tracy had hit his head pretty hard and his body slamming to the ground, he felt like every bone was broken.

"I've wanted to tell you for so long, bro. But he didn't let me. He said I had to wait until the time was…," Weber started to explain, catching Sam's attention for good.

"Who?" Andy asked confused, not knowing what Weber was talking about. But Sam knew.

"The man with the yellow eyes," Weber confirmed his suspicions.

"What are you talking about?" Andy asked, still not understanding.

"He came to me. In my dream. He said I was special," Weber told him, his eyes shining. "He told me he's got big plans for me. Wait 'till you see what's in store, Andy, for both of us! See, he's the one who told me that…I had a brother. A twin."

"Why did you kill our mother? Why? And why Dr. Jennings?" Andy asked.

"Because they split us up! They ruined our lives, Andy!" Weber yelled angrily. "We could have been together this whole time. Instead of alone. I couldn't, I couldn't let 'em do that, I couldn't let them get away with that. No."

Weber suddenly spun around, a smile appearing on his face. Sam and Andy already knew where he was looking at – Dean and Hayley's hiding place. "I see you. Bye-bye," Weber said with a smirk, waving goodbye at them.

* * *

"You suck at hiking, Winchester," she said with a big fat grin on her face. She stood proudly on a shoulder of rock, a bandana around her head as they hiked up their way through the mountainous area. He had located a good shooting spot from there earlier. He wouldn't let Sam completely out of his sight without any back-up.

"You look ridiculous," Dean said.

"Says the guy, who's out of breath after five minutes," Hayley countered with a smirk.

"Hey, it's steep!" Dean argued. She was just pushing his buttons again, he knew that. Maybe she also wanted to distract him a little from the Sam situation.

"Huh, funny. I always thought you had more stamina, Winchester. Guess I was wrong," she said with a grin and spun around on one foot, continuing her march up the hill.

He rolled his eyes at her before he caught up with her again. He had to do a little running to do so and endure a winning grin from Hayley before they found the little clearance between some trees with a direct view onto the dam.

Sam and Andy hadn't arrived at the bridge yet, but they couldn't be far behind them. A car was parked on the bridge, probably Weber's. Hayley kept watching the car, hoping Sam wouldn't take too long, while Dean set up a sniper rifle, aiming at the dam.

"You ever think about Sam's abilities?" Hayley suddenly asked and he looked at her.

"Yeah, you kidding me? They give me nightmares," Dean said, shaking his whole body at the thought of it and she frowned.

"No, I mean…sometimes, I just, I think, maybe…," Hayley stammered.

"Geez, spit it out," Dean encouraged her with a chuckle.

"You're not gonna like it," Hayley warned him, biting down on her lip and he sighed.

"I know I won't. But when has that ever stopped you before?" Dean said with a smirk and she giggled.

"Okay, uhm, you ever think Sam would be better off controlling his powers?" Hayley asked him straight and Dean just stared at her, expressionless. "Don't shoot me," she added and he chuckled at that.

"Honestly, I don't know," Dean said quietly.

"You think Sam's right? About him becoming evil eventually?" She asked, looking at him.

He didn't respond, he just stared ahead, which answered her question anyways. He started to rummage through the duffel bag, handing her another rifle. "Here, take it. You're a good distance shooter…in case I miss," Dean said with a wink.

Sam and Andy had finally arrived on the bridge and while they had managed to save Tracy and gain control over Weber, the situation seemed to have turned sour as Sam was lying unconscious on the asphalt and Dean was getting ready to take a shot at Weber.

And then she could feel it – the voice inside her head and she knew what it meant. Weber had found them up here. She looked at the weapon in her hands and watched herself rise the rifle, taking aim. _No_ , she thought. She would fight this. She wouldn't let some psycho take over her mind. "Dean," her voice cracked.

"Hm? Huh, that's weird…Crap, I think he made us. He's looking in our direction," Dean said as he watched Weber on the bridge as he turned around to them with a smile. He suddenly heard the familiar cackling of a gun and turned his head over to Hayley. He regretted giving her an assault rifle now.

"Dean…I can't hold him any longer," she said, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"It's okay," he said, looking up at her, swallowing hard.

"No, it's not. I _can't_ ," she said, shaking her head. Her head started to burn, she felt like it was going to explode soon. The voice in her head was getting louder and louder, yelling at her. Every muscle in her body was tense and she could taste the blood in her mouth from biting down on her tongue too hard. But she couldn't do it. She couldn't kill someone, let alone him. "You have to shoot me, Dean."

"Sorry, Speedy. Made a pact not to try and kill you anymore, remember?" Dean said, a soft smile on his face. "It's alright, Hayley. Just like we practiced, okay?"

He looked at her and she nodded. She couldn't say anything else anymore, it was too hard. She would have just told him how stupid he was being anyways. He could have shot her. She might have survived. But no, he had to go be a hero and stick to a stupid promise he had made her once.

She forced her eyes shut. She didn't want to look at him. A shot was fired and she dropped the weapon to the ground, shaking. She opened her eyes again when she could feel his arms around her.

Andy had shot Weber, lifting his control over Hayley.

"One hell of a trust exercise, huh?" He said with a smile, letting go of her after a while.

"Shut up and take me to the next bar, Winchester," she said, giggling a little as she dried her eyes with the sleeves of her jeans jacket.

"That can be arranged," Dean replied with a smile and the two started their hike downhill again to meet up with Sam and Andy.

* * *

It was early in the morning and the sun had just come up. Andy was still talking to the cops and the whole rescue team on scene, using his powers and convincing them that Weber had shot himself, as paramedics tended to Tracy's injuries.

"Look at him. He's getting better at it," Sam commented as he watched Andy talk to a couple of police officers.

"She won't even look at me," Andy said as he walked over to them. He walked by the ambulance where Tracy was sitting, avoiding his gaze.

"Yeah, she's pretty shaken up," Sam said.

"No, it's, this is different. It's, uh, I never, I never used my mind thing on her before. Before last night. She's scared of me now," Andy said sadly.

"Hey, Andy, I hate to do this, but um, we have to get out of here," Sam said, pulling out a little piece of paper from his jacket. "Here. I wrote down my cell. You don't have to be alone in this, all right? If anything comes up, just call me up," he told Andy, handing him the piece of paper.

"Wha- what am I supposed to do now?" Andy asked confused when the three turned their backs around, walking back to the Impala.

"You be good, Andy. Or we'll be back," Dean said with a grin.

"Looks like I was right," Sam said after a while when Andy was almost out of sight.

"About what?" Dean asked, raising his brow.

"Andy. He's a killer after all," Sam said and Dean and Hayley frowned.

"No, he's a hero. He saved his girlfriend's life, he saved _my_ life," Dean argued.

"Yeah, technically his murder kept me from becoming a murderer," Hayley threw in and Dean nodded.

"Bottom line, last night, he wasted somebody," Sam insisted and Hayley shook her head at him.

"Yeah, but he's not a foaming-at-the-mouth psycho. He was just, he was pushed into that," Dean strengthened his argument.

"Weber was pushed too, in his own way. Max Miller was pushed. Hell, I was pushed by Jessica's death," Sam countered.

"So? According to your theory, I would have been pushed too, but I'm not a stone-cold killer yet," Hayley said.

"Yeah, what's your point, Sam?" Dean asked with a nod to Hayley.

"Right circumstances, everyone's capable of murder. _Everyone_. Even you, Hayley. If Iris were in danger and you could only save her life by killing someone, you would and don't try to tell me differently," Sam said, looking at her. She bit down on her lip, confirming it. "You know, maybe that's what the demon's doing. Pushing us. Finding ways to break us," he continued, looking at Dean.

"Sam, we don't know what the demon wants, okay? Quit worrying about it," Dean said and the three had finally reached the Impala again.

"You know, I heard you before, Dean, when Andy made you tell the truth. You're just as scared of this as I am," Sam suddenly said and Dean looked at him perplexed for a moment. He had almost forgotten about his little confession in the car earlier.

"That was mind control!" He exclaimed upset, waving his hands in the air. "I mean, it's like, like, that's like being roofied, man, that doesn't count," Dean argued defensively.

"What?" Sam asked confused while Hayley watched the two amused.

"No. I'm, I'm calling do-over," Dean added.

"What are you, seven?" Sam asked with a smirk, shaking his head.

"Doesn't matter. Look, we've just gotta keep doing what we're doing, find that evil son of a bitch and kill it," Dean said, trying to motivate them again.

"Yeah, I guess," Sam agreed, a little doubtful.

They were about to get back into the Impala after having packed up the rest of their stuff in the trunk, when Dean's cell rang.

"Hello?" He said, picking up. "Ellen. What's going on? Yeah, we'll be right there," Dean said, hanging up again, sharing a look with Sam and Hayley. They never ever got a break.

* * *

 **Nebraska**

No sleep or food and a few hours later, the Impala parked outside Harvelle's Roadhouse. It was the middle of the day and the bar was almost empty again like the first time they were here.

The three sat down at the bar as Ellen got a few glasses for them ready. "Jo?" Ellen said and her daughter looked at her. "Go pull up another case of beer."

"Mom…," Jo began to argue, looking briefly over to Dean.

"Now. Please," Ellen said firmly, but calm and Jo left with a small sigh. Ellen waited until Jo had left for the back room when she leaned over the bar, closer to them. "So. You uh, you want to tell me about this last hunt of yours?"

"No. Not really," Dean replied simply before Hayley shot him a look. "No offense, it's just kind of a family thing."

"Not anymore," Ellen said, smashing a stack of papers onto the bar in front of them. "I got this stuff from Ash. Andrew Gallagher's house burnt down on his six month birthday, just like your house. You think it was the demon both times, don't you? You think it went after Gallagher's family?" Ellen asked, swamping them with a flood of information and the three looked surprised at her.

"Yeah, we think so," Sam replied, earning him a stern look from Dean.

"Sam…," he cautioned his little brother.

"Why?" Ellen asked, looking at Sam.

"None of your business," Dean snapped, earning him another set of looks.

"You mind your tongue with me, boy. This isn't just your war, this _is_ war," Ellen told him. "Now, something big and bad's coming and it's coming fast, and their side holds all the cards. Now, at best all we got is us. _Together_. No secrets or half-truths here."

The three shared a long look before Sam answered. "There are people out there, like Andy Gallagher…like _me_. And uhm, we all have some kind of ability," Sam explained.

"Ability?" Ellen lifted her brows and Dean rolled his eyes, shaking his head. He was uncomfortable trusting a stranger with this information, let alone another hunter.

"Yeah. Psychic ability. Me, I have, uhm, I have visions. Premonitions. I don't know, it's, it's different for everybody. The demon said he had plans for people like us," Sam replied.

"What kind of plans?" Ellen asked. She didn't seem to mind it that much that Sam had just opened up about his powers. She hadn't even flinched at the mention of it.

"We don't really know for sure," Sam said.

"These people out there, these psychics – they dangerous?" Ellen asked, looking at Sam now.

"No. Not all of them," Dean replied. He knew what she was thinking.

"But some are. Some are very dangerous," Sam threw in, looking at her sincerely. He thought it best to be honest now, otherwise their lies would just bite them in the ass later.

"Okay, how many of them are we looking at?" Ellen asked.

"We've been able to track a clear pattern so far. They've all had house fires on the night of the kid's six month birthday," Dean replied, but Hayley shook her head.

"That's not true," Hayley chimed in and Dean looked at her confused.

"Yeah, Weber? Or Ansen Weems, or whatever his name is…I looked at his files, and there was no house fire. There's nothing out of the ordinary," Sam said and Dean looked at him shocked.

"Which breaks pattern," Ellen said out loud what they were all thinking. "So if there's any others like him, there'd be nothing in the system. No way to track 'em all down."

"And so who knows how many of 'em are really out there…," Dean mused. The thought made his stomach turn.

"Jo, honey?" Ellen said as Jo appeared behind the bar again.

"Yeah?"

"You'd better break out the whiskey instead," Ellen told her and Jo obliged with a nod.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Hi guys! Hope you enjoyed this new chapter!  
I loved writing the training scene in the beginning and the conversation Sam and Hayley had. I think the three of them are pretty good friends now and I'm excited where this story is going :)

I'll be writing _No Exit_ next before I'll embark on another Flash chapter (this one's gonna be bomb y'all!).

Thanks for reading, reviewing and loving this story! ;)


	8. No Exit

_Had a handle on it_  
 _My life, I broke it_  
 _When I get to where I'm going, gonna have you saying it_

 _Live fast, die young_  
 _Bad girls do it well_

 _Get back, get down_  
 _Pull me closer if you think you can hang_  
 _Hands up, hands tied_  
 _Don't go screaming if I blow you with a bang_

 _Bad Girls_ by **M.I.A.**

* * *

 **8\. No Exit (SPN 2.06)**

 **Nebraska**

The three had stayed local, in case Ash found anything new about the demon, but so far they were just out of luck. Every new lead they found, had been a dead end so far.

The Impala parked outside Harvelle's Roadhouse for the fifth time this month, and the three got out, still finishing off their discussion of where they'd go next.

"Los Angeles, California," Dean suggested as he closed the door of the car.

"What's in L.A.?" Hayley asked, raising her brows. She had voted for something snowy, but got shut down by Dean with an eye roll. It was December and she had wanted a little snow instead of staring at the Nebraska desert.

"Young girl's been kidnapped by an evil cult," Dean replied, making a serious face.

"Yeah? Girl got a name?" Sam asked.

"Katie Holmes," Dean replied before he started chuckling and the others joined him.

"That's funny. And for you, so bitchy," Sam said with a laugh and Hayley shook her head at him before the three were interrupted by loud noises coming from inside. They heard yelling and the voices sounded fairly familiar.

"Of course, on the other hand – catfight," Dean said with a grin before he headed inside, Sam and Hayley following him.

The yelling got louder and they found Ellen and Jo shouting out their lungs at each other. The three entered cautiously. It had been a bad idea to get in here in the first place, even Dean seemed to realize this now.

"I am your mother, I don't have to be reasonable!" Ellen yelled at her daughter.

"You can't keep me here!" Jo screamed back.

"Oh, don't you bet on that, sweetie," Ellen retorted.

"What are you going to do, are you going to chain me up in the basement?" Jo snapped and Ellen threw her a look.

"You know what, you've had worse ideas than that recently. Hey, you don't wanna stay, don't stay. Go back to school," Ellen told her and Jo rolled her eyes annoyed.

"I didn't belong there! I was a freak with a knife collection," Jo replied and the three could actually relate. They had never belonged in school either, not even Sam and Hayley.

"Yeah, and getting yourself killed on some dusty back road, that's where you belong?" Ellen asked, lifting her brows. Jo suddenly noticed the three standing awkwardly by the door, listening. Ellen followed her daughter's look, now seeing them as well. "Guys, bad time."

"Yes, ma'am," Sam and Hayley replied politely, one step already out the door again.

"Yeah, we rarely drink before ten anyway," Dean joked awkwardly.

"Wait. I wanna know what they think about this," Jo suddenly said and the three stopped in their tracks again.

The door then burst open once more and a family with two toddlers walked in. They all wore sunny yellow shirts, reading _Nebraska is for Lovers_ on them.

"I don't care what they think!" Ellen yelled before she noticed the family as well.

"Are you guys open?" The father asked carefully.

"Yes!" Ellen shouted at the man while Jo replied with a loud _no_.

"We'll just…check out the Arby's down the road," the father replied, looking awkwardly at them before the four left.

The bar was silent for a moment before the ringing of the phone thankfully broke it. Jo kept glaring at Ellen before her mother reluctantly stomped over behind the bar to answer it. The blond waited until she was far enough away before she walked closer to them, a couple files in her hands.

"Three weeks ago a young girl disappears from a Philadelphia apartment," Jo informed them, shoving the folder with files at Dean. "Take it, it won't bite," she hissed at him when he refused to take them.

"No, but your Mom might," Dean argued. Hayley snatched them from Jo instead, looking through them. She seemed to have found a solid case. Jo grinned at him winningly. She had just needed one of them to help her.

"And this girl wasn't the first. Over the past eighty years, six women have vanished. All from the same building, all young blondes. Only happens every decade or two, so cops never eyeball the pattern. So we're either dealing with one very old serial killer, or…," Jo continued.

"Who put this together? Ash?" Dean interrupted her, looking over Hayley's shoulder to see the folder.

"I did it myself," Jo replied proudly and Dean nodded impressed.

"I gotta admit. We hit the road for a lot less," Sam said, looking at Dean.

"Yeah, pretty sure this is up our alley," Hayley chimed in and Jo smiled at them pleased.

"Good. You like the case so much, you take it," Ellen interrupted them and Jo threw her a death stare.

"Mom!" Jo protested.

"Joanna Beth, this family has lost enough. And I won't lose you too. I just won't," Ellen said firmly and her daughter sighed with an eye-roll, handing her folder over to Dean.

* * *

 **Philadelphia, Pennsylvania**

It was more than a day's drive to get to Philadelphia. They were exhausted and starving, but like any good hunters, the three decided to check out the apartment building first before taking care of their needs and finding a proper motel to sleep.

"I feel kind of bad, snaking Jo's case," Sam said as they entered the apartment of the last victim.

"Yeah, me too," Hayley agreed as she finished a text on her phone. She knew how it felt when she wanted to go her own way and was being told no repeatedly by everyone in her life.

"Yeah, maybe she put together a good file. But could you see her out here working one of these things? I don't think so," Dean said, shaking his head.

"Why not? I could see her being a good hunter. Knocked you out first time you met her," Hayley said with a smirk and he threw her a look.

"She didn't knock me out. She surprised me…and who are you texting anyways this whole time?" Dean asked her and she frowned.

"No one," she replied with a shrug, smiling. That was never a good sign and he knew it. What the hell was she up to now?

"Yeah, well quit talking, start working," he ordered her and she stuck her tongue out at him before pulling out her EMF reader. "You getting anything?" He asked, looking over to his little brother.

"No, not yet," Sam replied. He ran the reader over the walls and as he reached the light switch, it started beeping. He leaned over to inspect it further, noticing some black goo coming out of it.

"What's that?" Sam asked and his two companions immediately came to his side.

"What?" Dean asked and Sam touched the goo with his fingers.

"Holy crap," Sam mumbled.

"Ew, what is that?" Hayley asked, narrowing her eyes at the chewy mass.

"That's ectoplasm," Dean said, touching the goo as well. "Well, Sam, I think I know what we're dealing with here. It's the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man," he joked and his little brother rolled his eyes at him.

"Dean, I've only seen this stuff, like, _twice_. I mean, to make this stuff you have to be one majorly pissed off spirit," Sam said.

"Awesome," Hayley muttered as she bagged a bunch of ectoplasm, putting it in her lap bag and Dean sighed.

"All right, let's find this badass before he snags any more girls," Dean said and the three left the apartment again.

As they closed the door, they heard voices down the corridor, one of them sounding familiar – too familiar.

"It's so convenient," a woman's voice said as they came closer.

"Yeah, it's a great building, fixed it up real nice. All the apartments come furnished, too," a man said.

"It is so spacious. You know, my friend told me I absolutely have to come check it out, and I have to admit, she was right. You did a really good job with this place," Jo said as she came around the corner and the three stared at her.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Dean asked her angrily.

"There you are, honey," Jo greeted him with a warm smile, coming to his side and grabbing his waist. "This is my boyfriend Dean and his buddy Sam and my friend Hayley," she introduced them to the man, who they figured was the landlord.

"Good to meetcha. Quite a gal you've got here," the landlord said with a smile, shaking Dean's hand.

"Oh yeah, she's a pistol," Dean replied, smacking Jo's ass with a smirk.

"So, did you already check out that apartment?" Jo asked, looking up at him, but all she got was a blank face from Dean. "The one for rent."

"Yeah," he finally replied, catching on. "Yes. Loved it…great flow."

"How'd you get in?" The landlord asked, looking at them confused.

"It was open," Dean said quickly, shrugging awkwardly.

"Now, Ed, uhm, when did the last tenant move out?" Jo asked the man, clearing her throat a little.

"Oh, about a month ago. Cut and run, too. Stick me for the rent," he replied.

"Well. Her loss, our gain! 'Cause if Dean-o loves it, it's good enough for me," Jo replied with a smile, hugging him tighter.

"Oh, sweetie," Dean said, smacking her again and giving her a lovey-dovey stare.

"We'll take it," Jo said, turning back to the landlord and handed him a wad of cash.

* * *

When the four entered the apartment, Hayley already knew Dean would throw a fit. Especially, since he probably figured out who she had been texting after all.

"I'll flip you for the sofa," Jo said with a smirk as she put her stuff down on the table while the brothers had gone on to clean their guns.

"Does your mother even know you're here?" Dean asked, raising his brows.

"Told her I was going to Vegas," Jo replied and he threw her a look.

"You think she's gonna buy that?" He asked, shaking his head.

"I'm not an idiot. Ash is covering for me at the Roadhouse and Hayley is helping me lay a credit card trail all the way to the casinos," Jo replied with a proud grin.

"You helped her with this?" Dean asked, looking angrily at Hayley now.

"Yeah, she's a grown ass woman. Let her do this," Hayley said and he glared at her.

"Exactly," Jo agreed and he turned back to her.

"Oh, great. I love the girl bonding already," Dean mumbled with an eye-roll. This would be the death of him. "You know, you shouldn't lie to your Mom. Shouldn't be here either," he said to Jo.

"Well, I am. So untwist your boxers and deal with it," Jo said determinedly, crossing her arms in front of her chest and Hayley gave her an approving thumbs up. Dean sighed frustrated.

"Where'd you get all that money from, anyways?" Sam asked, referring to the bunch of cash she had given the landlord.

"Working, at the Roadhouse," Jo replied with a shrug.

"Hunters don't tip that well," Dean snapped.

"Well, they aren't that good at poker, either," Jo retorted and he threw her a defeated look. Sam and Hayley chuckled amused.

His cell phone interrupted their staring contest and he picked up. "Yeah?"

" _Is she with you?_ " He recognized Ellen's voice on the other end, throwing Jo a guilty look.

"Oh, hi Ellen," Dean said, his voice a little higher than usual.

" _She left a note she's in Vegas. I don't believe it for a second_ ," Ellen said.

He held the phone to his chest when Jo walked over, positioning herself in front of him. "I'm telling her," he whispered through gritted teeth, starting an argument with her. Sam and Hayley couldn't hear all of it as their furious muttering was hard to understand.

"I haven't seen her," Dean said to Ellen on the phone when he hadn't answered for a while.

" _You sure about that?_ " She asked, always the suspicious mother.

"Yeah, I'm sure," he assured her, already feeling the guilt rise up inside his stomach.

" _Well, please. If she shows up, you'll drag her butt right back here, won't you?_ " Ellen asked him.

"Absolutely," Dean promised her with a nod.

" _Okay, thanks honey,_ " Ellen replied, hanging up and Jo grinned at him happily.

* * *

Jo had already gotten the blueprints and spread them out on the table in front of Sam and Hayley while Dean was pacing nervously in the background. He didn't like her being here and he shouldn't have lied to Ellen. The guilt was already starting to eat at him, how the hell would he feel by the end of the day?

"This place was built in 1924. It was originally a warehouse, converted into apartments a few months ago," Jo informed them, flipping a small knife around like it was a jock stick.

"Yeah? What was here before 1924?" Dean asked, raising his brows behind her.

"Nothing. Empty field," Jo replied, a little annoyed with his attitude.

"So, most likely scenario, someone died bloody in the building, and now he's back and raising hell," Sam mused and the others nodded, except for Jo.

"I already checked. In the past eighty two years, zero violent deaths. Unless you count a janitor who slipped on a wet floor," Jo said before she rolled her eyes with a sigh, looking back at Dean. "Would you sit down, please?"

He rolled his eyes at her as well, sitting down next to her compliantly and Sam and Hayley shared an amused look. "So, have you checked police reports, county death records…," Dean asked, but she interrupted him.

"Obituaries, mortuary reports and seven other sources. I know what I'm doing," she snapped, glaring at him.

"I think the jury's still out on that one," Dean replied. "Could you put the knife down?" He asked her politely, smirking and she obliged, biting her lip.

"Okay, Sam!" Hayley broke up the tension between them with an awkward smile, looking at Sam. He looked at her baffled. "You were saying something interesting earlier?"

"Yeah, right uhm, so, uh, it's something else, then…maybe some kind of cursed object that brought a spirit with it," Sam stammered and Jo and Dean looked at him confused.

"Yeah, right _that_ ," Hayley said, clearing her throat and the two shook their heads at them.

"Okay, well, we've got to scan the whole building. Everywhere we can get to, right?" Jo said, steering them back to topic.

"Yup, Sam and I go downstairs," Hayley replied and Dean nodded. She would be way faster using her powers – something she couldn't do around Jo.

"Right. And you and me, we'll take the top two floors," Dean said, looking at Jo.

"We'd move faster if we split up," Jo suggested, but Dean immediately shook his head.

"Oh, this isn't negotiable," he told her with a smile.

"Fine, then I'll wanna team up with Sam or Hayley," Jo said with an innocent smile and he frowned. She knew Dean wouldn't let her do shit alone, but Sam seemed to be easier persuaded – at least, that's what Hayley had told her so far about the brothers.

"Uh, you can't…," Hayley threw in and Jo looked at her confused.

"Why not?" She asked.

"Uh, because Sam here…knows CPR and I'm really paranoid about dying. So…," Hayley said, awkwardly shifting in her place.

"Right…she's really weird. You get used to it," Dean said with a smirk. "So, ladies first," he said with a grin, gesturing Jo outside the door.

* * *

The building didn't have a basement and the other floors seemed quiet. The EMF didn't give off any signals and there was no ectoplasm coming from the walls either. Sam was walking down the corridors of the second floor when a flash of lightning raced down the hall, coming to a halt next to him.

"Nothing?" Sam asked, looking at Hayley.

"Nothing," she confirmed somewhat disappointed. "Looked through all four floors ten times now."

"Dean and Jo?" Sam asked.

"Still on fifth," Hayley replied and he sighed. It had only been ten minutes. They would be stuck here for a while. "Don't worry. I got donuts," she said with a grin, holding up a brown paper bag and two cups of coffee and he smiled, shaking his head.

They sat down on the stairs and Hayley switched on her EMF, putting it next to her, just in case the ghost might show after all.

"You really haven't thought about this whole not-using-your-powers-thing when you invited Jo along, did you?" Sam asked with a smile.

"Nope, no I haven't. But I guess it doesn't matter. She knows about you, might as well tell her about me," Hayley replied. She might even find another friend in Jo.

"Yeah, I guess. Has Dean yelled at you yet?" Sam asked and she chuckled.

"No, but I'm sensing that's coming soon," Hayley replied, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, good luck…why did you even bring her along?" Sam asked, looking at her.

"Well, you said it yourself. It's her case. She deserves to be here," Hayley replied.

"Yeah, but Dean's not wrong though. Jo has no experience," Sam argued.

"Neither did I and you guys taught me. I don't see why we can't take in Jo as well," Hayley replied. "Plus, you know as well as I do, parents can't stop their kids forever." John couldn't keep Sam from going to Stanford and Joe had never been able to keep Hayley from trying to prove her father was innocent. Sometimes kids needed to choose their own path in life.

"Let's hope you're right. You think they got more luck with this ghost than we do?" Sam asked, looking at Hayley's EMF, still not showing any signal.

"I hope so. Before another woman goes missing," Hayley replied, taking a sip from her coffee.

* * *

Dean and Jo had made it onto the sixth floor. The hallways were dimly lit as they walked down, EMF readers in hand. He had been closely beside her the whole time, not leaving her out of his sight.

"So...you gonna buy me dinner?" Jo asked, strolling casually ahead.

"What are you talking about?" Dean asked, knitting his brows.

"It's just if you're gonna ride me this close, it's only decent you buy me dinner," she replied with a smirk and he frowned.

"Oh, that's hilarious. You know, it's bad enough Hayley invited you and I lied to your Mom, but if you think I'm letting you out of my sight…I don't know if you've noticed, but you're kind of the spirit's type," Dean retorted. Why was every woman in his life crazy about getting herself killed?

"Exactly," Jo replied and he frowned again.

"You wanna be bait?" He asked more angry than shocked.

"Quickest way to draw it out and you know it," Jo replied with a shrug and he shook his head.

"Oh," he muttered, rolling his eyes.

"What?" She asked annoyed.

"I'm so regretting this," Dean mumbled. Jo stopped in her tracks, spinning around to face him.

"You know, I've had it up to here with your crap," she snapped at him.

"Excuse me?" Dean raised his brows at her.

"Your chauvinist crap. Hayley told me you've been an ass to her, too. You think women can't do the job," Jo argued and he sighed.

"Sweetheart, this ain't gender studies. Women can do the job fine. _Amateurs_ can't," he countered. "You have no experience. What you do have is a bunch of half-baked romantic notions that some barflies put in your head."

"Now you sound like my mother," Jo threw at him.

"Oh, and that's a bad thing? Because let me tell you…," he started to say, but stopped. She was standing close to him now, her brown eyes piercing through him. Jo should have stayed at home, Hayley should have known better.

"What?" Jo asked when he hadn't said anything further for a while.

"Forget it," Dean replied, walking past her.

"No, you started this," Jo yelled angrily at him and he turned around, looking at her again.

"Jo, you've got options. No one in their right mind chooses this life. My Dad started me in this when I was so young…I wish I could do something else," Dean said and she looked at him.

"You love the job," Jo replied and he nodded.

"Yeah, but I'm a little twisted," Dean replied, smiling softly. By now, he couldn't imagine doing anything else.

"You don't think I'm a little twisted too?" She asked, looking up at him as tears brimmed in her eyes. She had been through a lot for sure, but she could still get out with a few scars.

"Jo, you've got a mother that worries about you. Who wants something more for you. Those are good things. You don't throw things like that away. Might be hard to find later," Dean replied.

"What about Hayley? She went to college, got a job as a CSI in Central City, right?" Jo said and he looked at her surprised. "Ash told me," she added quickly.

"Yeah, she does," Dean replied, continuing to walk down the corridors, focusing on his EMF meter.

"So…she's here and she could have a normal life," Jo argued and he frowned.

"Yeah well, just like you have a romantic notion about hunting, Hayley's got the same notion about having a normal life, even though she's knee-deep into the supernatural," Dean replied.

"How? Is she connected to Sam's psychic abilities?" Jo asked.

"Look, if you want answers, you have to ask her yourself. Let's just get this over with, okay?" Dean said.

"Fine," she agreed with a frustrated sigh. She knew the three had been hiding something from her and she always wondered why Dean would let Hayley tag along, but not her.

They broke into an empty apartment on the seventh floor, looking around. Her eyes glanced through the living room and down a narrow hallway. She knew they found the right place. She could somehow feel the spirit – the cold creeping up her back. She turned around, almost sure there was something behind her, but she just ended up staring at the blank wall.

"What?" Dean asked, looking at her. She stood there a little frozen, a shocked expression on her face.

"I'm not sure," she replied. She couldn't pin it, but she knew something was wrong here.

"You smell that?" Dean asked, sniffing the air. It was a familiar, but unusual smell.

"What is that, a gas leak?" Jo asked, sniffing the air now too.

"No…something else. I know it. I just can't put my finger on it," Dean said as he looked around the room some more.

Jo crouched down, noticing a small grate on the side of the wall near the floor. She waved her EMF meter over it and it went off.

"Mazel Tov," Dean said as he knelt down next to her. "You just found your first spirit."

"It's inside the vent," Jo said, realizing.

"Here," he said, handing her the flashlight while he got out a screwdriver. He unscrewed the grate carefully before he removed it from the wall. He took the flashlight back, glancing inside a little as he noticed something.

"There's something in there. Here," Dean said, giving the flashlight back to Jo. He reached his arm inside the vent. He couldn't see anything and feeling around a dark shaft with a potential ghost nearby weren't his favorite things about hunting.

His hand suddenly grabbed onto something. It felt sticky and hairy, which was never a good sign. He pulled his arm out again, revealing a piece of blond hair along with some scalp. "Somebody's keeping souvenirs," he said, looking at Jo, who looked more than repulsed by now. Whatever that thing was, they needed to stop it soon.

* * *

Hayley and Sam were already in the apartment, when they came back.

"Hey, you guys are already here. You had more floors than we did…," Jo said, looking confused at them as they sat at the table.

"Yeah, we're fast. There was nothing there," Hayley replied with a shrug. "Did you guys find anything?"

"We found a piece of blond hair in one of the vents," Jo informed them.

"EMF went off a couple times too, but nothing else," Dean added.

"Yeah, no idea what that thing is and why it's here," Jo said bitterly. She wanted to save people, not wait around and watch them die.

"Well, it's late. There's nothing we can do right now," Sam reasoned.

"Let's come up with a plan tomorrow morning. I'm gonna go grab dinner for us," Hayley said with a soft smile. She hated not moving along in a case as much as Jo seemed to.

"Yeah, I'll come with," Dean said, looking at her. His face didn't look too happy and she knew she would probably get her lecture now. She nodded quietly and the two left the apartment.

* * *

"So, what's up?" Hayley asked him as soon as they had stepped a foot out onto the street. He hadn't said a word since they left the apartment, except for an occasional groan. It was already dark outside and the neighborhood seemed quiet as a couple of lampposts lit the street.

"Why the hell would you bring Jo into this case?" Dean asked. He was angry, she had expected as much.

"Well, it was her case! She deserves to be here. Just give her a chance," Hayley replied, but he shook his head at her.

"You don't get chances in this line of business. You should know better," Dean argued.

"Oh, please. Don't give me that crap," she said, rolling her eyes. "I'm just trying to help you!"

"Oh, is that what this is?" Dean mocked her.

"Yeah, it is. Believe it or not. Look, Jo wants to hunt and you or her Mom can't stop her. Plus, is it really that bad to have another hunter friend with us?" Hayley countered and he looked at her.

"Yeah, no hunter ever said – _the more the merrier,_ Speedy" Dean retorted and she rolled her eyes at him.

"Yeah, I know all about hunters being anti-social. I was just thinking…it wouldn't be the worst if Jo spent some time on the road with us. I mean you seem to like her," Hayley pointed out and he stopped, looking at her. He knew she had an agenda to all of this from the beginning.

"Oh, now I see what you're doing and I'm telling you, it's not happening," Dean replied, crossing over the street to a small diner.

"What, why not? You clearly like her. What's wrong with that?" Hayley questioned, following him.

"Nothing, but I don't do relationships and you should know better, too. You ended it with Mike, because you didn't want him anywhere near this," Dean replied.

"That's entirely different," Hayley said defensively. Even though it was a poor excuse.

"Keep telling yourself that," Dean said and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Look, I know all the reasons why not to have a relationship in this life, but Jo's different. She knows about all this crap and doesn't care," Hayley said and he looked at her for a moment. "And she can handle herself," she added and he sighed.

"She's not different. She still can get hurt, Hayley," Dean said, looking at her. "The answer's no. Now stop being ridiculous and get some food" he ordered her with a stern look and she sighed frustrated, entering the diner.

* * *

The four ate dinner together, which was mostly spent in silence, except for when they talked about the case. They went to bed afterwards, deciding to continue in the morning with their investigation. The girls took the large king-sized bed while Sam took the couch, which had been way more comfortable than Dean's sleeping place – a rather small and hard living room chair.

Jo had woken up in the middle of the night and decided to continue their research, sitting down at the table and studying her notes. When the sun came up, Hayley and Sam woke up next. Sam hogged the bathroom first and Hayley sat down next to Jo with a glass of water, yawning. She hadn't slept in a bed this comfortable in weeks.

"Morning, I see you slept well," Jo said with a chuckle and Hayley giggled.

"Man, that bed is like marshmallow heaven," Hayley replied dreamily and Jo laughed. "Where have you been?"

"Couldn't sleep," she replied, looking down at the files in front of her and Hayley nodded understandingly. The first few cases she had taken on as a CSI robbed her hours of sleep, not being able to shut it all off.

"Found anything?" Hayley asked hopefully, but Jo shook her head.

"Hey, there was something, I wanted to ask you...," Jo said, glancing behind her at Dean and Hayley followed her gaze, frowning when she stared at a sleeping Dean, all twisted up in his tiny leather chair. She knew where this conversation was going – she's had many of those with Iris over the years – the making-sure-you-didn't-like-the-same-boy conversation. She appreciated what Jo was doing, although it was an unwanted gesture.

"There's nothing going on," Hayley spat out and Jo looked at her confused. "I mean, uh, that's what you wanted to ask, right?"

"Uh...yeah," Jo said perplexed, nodding a little. "So there isn't? You guys never dated, anything like that?" She asked, looking at Hayley.

"No, just friends, promise. Believe me, he's all yours...I mean, not that he's bad, he's good. Great, even," Hayley muttered awkwardly, clearing her throat. "God, I need coffee," she whined, throwing her head back. It was way too early for those conversations.

"So, you and Sam then?" Jo asked with a smirk, raising a brow. She realized she should have asked Hayley at the Roadhouse over drinks, not early in the morning without booze.

Hayley sighed. She definitely hadn't signed up for that much girl talk on this trip. "Uh, no...no one's dating anyone," Hayley replied, but Jo kept staring at her doubtingly. "I...I have someone at home," she finally said and felt guilty about the little white lie. Not that she considered Mike _hers_ in any way, but she wouldn't get Jo off her back otherwise. And maybe Mike was a little hers after all.

Jo nodded satisfyingly like she had answered all the questions, the blond had. She knew there was more, but luckily they were interrupted by Sam coming out of the shower and Hayley quickly convinced him to grab some coffee and breakfast with her.

* * *

Dean woke up early in the morning when the sun had just come up and stretched himself out of his uncomfortable sleeping-position. His back hurt like hell and instead of feeling mid-twenty, he felt like eighty. He heard sirens and blinked outside, his eyes adjusting to the light.

"Morning, princess," Jo said and he looked over to her. She was sitting at the table, having the blueprints sprawled out in front of her and twisting that little knife of hers around again.

"Where's Sam and Hayley?" Dean asked, still half-asleep as he looked around the otherwise empty apartment.

"They went to get coffee," Jo replied. He got up from his chair with a groan. His brother and Hayley usually wouldn't take this long to simply get coffee and he was wondering if it had been Hayley's idea to leave the two of them alone this long.

"Ugh. My back. How'd you sleep on that big soft bed?" Dean asked, but she didn't look up at him.

"I didn't. Just been going over everything," she replied, focusing on the blueprints in front of her. "Besides, Hayley's a hogger," Jo added, grimacing. For such a tiny person, she had needed quite a lot of space.

He watched as she kept twisting the little knife around in her hand and put his duffel bag on the table. He got out a Bowie knife and unsnapped it from the sheath.

"Here," Dean said, handing it to her. She took it slowly and looked at him questioningly.

"What's this for?"

"Work a hell of a lot better than that little pig-sticker you're twirling around," he replied. Jo hesitated for a moment before she handed him her knife.

He took it, studying it. He noticed the letters _W.A.H._ engraved on the blade and looked up at her, realizing the mistake he had made.

"William Anthony Harvelle," Jo confirmed his suspicions. It had been her father's knife.

"I'm sorry. My mistake," Dean said, handing her the knife and taking his own back.

"What do you…what do you remember about your Dad? I mean, what's the first thing that pops into your head?" She asked and he shook his head with a soft smile. He wouldn't do this with her. "Come on, tell me."

He took a deep breath before he sat down across from her. "I was six or seven, and uh, he took me shooting for the first time. You know, balls on a fence, that kind of thing," Dean said, smiling at the memory. "I bulls-eyed every one of 'em. He gave me this smile, like…I don't know."

"He must have been proud," Jo said, smiling too. It was a rare sight to see Dean Winchester smile.

"What about your Dad?" Dean asked, clearing his throat a little.

"I was still in pigtails when my Dad died, but I remember him coming home from a hunt. He'd burst through that door like, like Steve McQueen or something," Jo said with a chuckle. "And he'd sweep me up in his arms, and I'd breathe in that old leather jacket of his. And my Mom, who was sour and pissed from the minute he left, she started smiling again. And we were…we were a family." She missed those days. She missed her father. "You wanna know why I want to do the job? For him. It's my way of being close to him. Now tell me what's wrong with that?"

He looked at her for a long time before he replied. He understood now. "Nothing."

The door swung open and Sam burst through the door. He realized he had been interrupting them, even though Hayley had warned him about that. But play time was over.

"Where's the coffee?" Dean asked, looking confused at his little brother's empty hands.

"There are cops outside. Another girl disappeared. Hayley's at the crime scene," Sam replied and the three shared a look.

* * *

Sam and Jo were studying the notes on the case they had so far while Dean waited impatiently by the door. It had been an hour and Hayley had been taking her time. He was about to call her when the door burst open and the brunette came storming in.

She threw her lab bag on the table before she removed her glasses and opened up her bun. She had pretended to be a CSI again – not that she had to pretend – she was a CSI, but she definitely had to come up with some kind of fake story to pass.

"Teresa Ellis, Apartment 2F. She was a young blond and her boyfriend reported her missing around dawn," Hayley informed them as she opened up her laptop, starting her research.

"And her apartment?" Jo asked, sitting down next to her.

"There were cracks all over the walls and ceiling. Oh, and ectoplasm," she replied, pulling out a vile with black goo from her bag and throwing it at Dean, who caught it gracefully before he gave her a weirded out look.

"Well, between that and that tuft of hair I'd say this sucker's coming from the walls," Sam mused and Dean nodded.

"But who is it? Building's history is totally clean," Dean said, looking at them. They were silent for a minute, thinking. There weren't that many options left.

"Well, maybe we're looking in the wrong place," Jo suddenly said, picking up a photograph. It showed an empty field in the middle of town, surrounded by buildings and a street.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked, looking at the picture over Jo's shoulder.

"Check this out," Jo said, gesturing at the photo and Sam took a look at it as well before Hayley snatched it.

"An empty field?" Sam asked, looking at Jo confused.

"It's where they built this building," Hayley said and Jo nodded.

"Yeah, now take a look at the one next door. The windows," Jo told them eagerly.

"Bars," Sam said as he looked at the locked up windows of the neighboring building.

"Great," Hayley said, frowning.

"We're next door to a prison?" Dean asked incredulously.

"Moyamensing prison to be exact," Hayley said as she glanced up from her laptop to them.

"Wow, that was fast," Jo said as she walked over to her, looking into the screen.

"Thanks," Hayley replied with a happy smile and Dean threw her a stern look. She wasn't supposed to use her powers, not even secretly. Jo still worked at a Roadhouse with a lot of hunters passing through. And she wasn't stupid either.

"It was built in 1835, torn down in 1963," Jo said as she read from the screen.

"Yeah, and they conveniently used the empty field next door to hang them," Hayley informed them. They finally had a lead.

"Well, then, we need a list. All the people executed there," Sam said and Hayley nodded.

"Already on it. Should be here any minute now," Hayley replied with a smile.

Her laptop beeped a couple of minutes later and she opened up a document on her computer with a full list of every person executed in Moyamensing.

"Got it," Hayley said and the others swarmed behind her back again, looking curiously at the screen. "The bad news is, there's 157 names on that list."

"A hundred fifty seven names?" Sam looked at her baffled and she shrugged apologetically.

"We've gotta narrow that down," Dean said with a quick look at Hayley, who frowned. "Hey Jo, you mind making us some coffee? Might take a while," Dean said with a charming smile. She rolled her eyes at him, but obliged either way and disappeared into the little kitchen.

"Okay, go," Dean said as soon as Jo was out of ear shot.

"Oh, now you want me to use my powers," Hayley scoffed and he threw her a stern look.

"Just do it," he said with a sigh and she grinned at him before she speed-read through the whole list. A second later, she stopped at a name, marking it for them to see as well.

"Herman Webster Mudgett?" Sam questioned with a frown. He had heard that name before.

"You got it?" Jo yelled from the kitchen before she came into the room again, hovering behind the screen.

"Wasn't that H. H. Holmes' real name?" Sam asked, looking at Hayley and she nodded.

"You've gotta be kiddin' me," Dean said, looking at her now too.

"Nope, pretty sure. Lucky us," Hayley replied with a smile and the four shared a look.

* * *

They picked up research again. Sam and Hayley had gotten everything they could find on Holmes from the library and she had thoroughly searched the web, too. They needed to confirm it was really him, killing all these women and then most importantly, finding his body, so they could salt and burn it.

"Yep. Holmes was executed at Moyamensing, May 7, 1896," Dean confirmed as he read through one of the library books. There was a newspaper article of Holmes' execution attached to it as well.

"H. H. Holmes himself. Come on, I mean, what are the odds?" Sam said, shaking his head.

"Who is this guy?" Jo asked, looking at them.

"The term _multi-murderer_. They coined it to describe Holmes," Dean said.

"Yeah, he was America's first serial killer, before anybody knew what a serial killer was," Hayley added.

"He confessed to twenty seven murders, but some put the death toll at over a hundred," Sam threw in and Jo swallowed. Apparently he wasn't just a monster in his afterlife.

"And his victim flavor of choice? Pretty petite blondes. He, uh, he used chloroform to kill 'em," Dean said, looking worriedly at Jo, as he realized something. "Which is what I smelled in the hallway last night. At his place, cops found human remains, bone fragments, and long locks of bloody blonde hair," he continued before he turned to Jo again. "Boy, you sure know how to pick 'em."

She rolled her eyes slightly, ignoring his antics and moved on with the case. "Well, we just find the bones, salt 'em and burn 'em, right?"

"Uh, yeah, that won't be that easy this time," Hayley said, knitting her brows as she looked at her screen again.

"Great, what now?" Dean asked, frowning. This case was getting worse and worse.

"His body is buried in town, but it's encased in a couple tons of concrete," Sam said as he looked over Hayley's shoulder.

"What? Why?" Jo asked confused. Why couldn't people just simply be put in graves?

"Well, story goes that he didn't want anybody mutilating his corpse. You know, because that's what he used to do," Hayley explained, biting down on her lip as she made a grimace.

"You know somethin'. We might have an even bigger problem than that," Sam said and she looked up at him.

"How does this get bigger?" Jo asked, raising her brows.

"Holmes built an apartment building in Chicago," Sam said.

"Right, the _Murder_ Castle," Hayley added and Sam nodded. They had almost gone crazy reading through all the stories about Holmes in the library. Usually, their job was hard because of a _lack_ of information.

"Yeah, the whole place was a death factory, they had, uh, trap doors, acid vats, quick line pits…he built these secret chambers inside the walls. He'd lock his victims in, keep them alive for days. Some he'd suffocate, others he'd let starve to death," Sam continued and Jo looked at him shocked before her eyes widened even more, realizing something.

"So Teresa could still be alive. She could be inside _these_ walls," Jo said.

"We need sledgehammers, crowbars…we've got to smash these walls, anywhere thick enough to hide a girl," Dean said and the others nodded determinedly.

* * *

The four separated into groups of two again, Jo and Dean taking the top floors of the building again while Sam and Hayley searched through the bottom ones. Once Hayley was inside one wall, she had looked through the whole building already, but all she found were empty spaces filled with rats and spiderwebs.

Jo and Dean had just broken through a wall themselves. They specifically had searched the blueprints for bigger spaces in between the walls. Dean had enjoyed going in with a sledgehammer a little too much, making sure the landlord would have a fun time fixing it up again.

"Okay. Call us after you guys checked the southeast wall," Jo said, hanging up the phone. "Sam and Hayley are almost done checking their half of the floors. Haven't found jack squat either," she informed him and Dean nodded before he abruptly stopped. "What is it?"

She peaked beside him, seeing their pathway had led them to a narrowing, following a new path around the corner.

"It's too narrow. Can't go any further," Dean said, shining his flashlight into the opening when Jo squeezed in next to him.

"Let me see," she said, shoving him to the side.

"What are you-," Dean started to protest, but their crawlspace had just suddenly grown a lot smaller as she tried to make her way past him. "Ugh. Shoulda cleaned the pipes," he mumbled as she pressed against him.

"What?" She asked with a frown, looking up at him.

"I, uh, I wish the pipes were cleaner," Dean repeated with a smirk and Jo narrowed her eyes at him.

"Shut up," she told him before she started looking at the thin crawlspace again, measuring it with her eyes. "I can fit in there," the blond announced and Dean looked at her horrified.

"You're not going in there by yourself," Dean said, frowning.

"You got a better idea?" She looked at him, raising her brows, waiting. But he couldn't think of a good enough reason right now. "Uh-huh," she nodded before she continued down the narrowing. Dean lit the way with the flashlight until she was out of his sight.

He swallowed hard – he didn't like her going off on her own. But Jo had proven herself to be a pretty damn good hunter so far, maybe Hayley was right and he was just overreacting like usual. It sure sounded like him.

He still called her cell, making sure she was still there and near by. "Where are you?" He asked as soon as she picked up.

" _On the north wall_ ," Jo replied and he looked at the blueprints again, shining his flashlight over them until he found where she was going. " _I'm heading down some kind of air duct_ ," Jo informed him.

"No, no, no, no, stay up here," he ordered her stubbornly, already worrying about all the things that could go wrong.

" _Look, we've gotta find this girl, don't we? I'm okay_ ," she assured him and he took a deep breath.

"All right. I'm heading to you," he agreed with another look at the blueprints.

He was on his way down a floor when he suddenly heard a mumbled _Oh God_ echoing through the phone and he immediately picked up his pace.

"What is it?" Dean asked her, but she didn't answer. "Jo? Jo!" He desperately yelled into the phone.

She watched black goo slowly crawling out through the narrow spaces and cracks between the bricks in the walls. She shuddered, goosebumps rising on her arms as she could feel the cold coming. And then he finally showed his face and she screamed.

"Jo!" Dean yelled worriedly as he ran down the hallways, trying to make out her location. The scream had been more than he could take already. If something happened to her, it'd be on him.

He found the place where she was supposed to be, according to the blueprints. She still hadn't answered, but nonetheless he swung the sledgehammer again, smashing a big hole into the wall. It was large enough for him to poke his head in. There was no sign of Jo, but she definitely had been here – her phone was still lying on the floor.

* * *

He could hear the clock ticking. How many hours did they have left? If they even had any. Holmes could decide to kill one of his victims anytime he pleased.

He ran into Sam and Hayley as he rushed back downstairs to their apartment.

"Whoa," Sam said as his brother almost crashed into him.

"You okay?" Hayley asked, looking at him. He was clearly upset about something.

"He's got Jo," Dean said as he rushed headfirst into the apartment and Sam closed the door as they followed him inside.

"What? How'd that happen?" Sam asked as Dean started to pace the living room frantically like he usually did when he worried this much – or when he was this angry.

"I wasn't with her – I left her alone. Dammit!" Dean replied angrily, kicking a couple of papers off the table.

"Hey, hey, look, we'll find her, all right?" Sam said, soothingly.

"Where?" Dean asked agitated. They had been looking for days already and found zero so far.

"Inside the walls," Hayley replied and he shot her a look.

"We've been inside the walls all night. None of the other girls were there, she won't be either," Dean pointed out frustrated.

"Look. We've just gotta take a beat and think about this. Maybe we got Holmes' M.O. wrong," Sam mused as he looked through their notes again.

"Yeah, well, we'd better friggin' think fast," Dean muttered with a sigh.

His cell phone rung and he absentmindedly picked it up, without looking at the number. "Yeah?"

" _You lied to me. She's there_ ," Ellen's voice shouted through the phone.

"Ellen," Dean said, swallowing hard and the others looked up at him surprised. Jo's mother had quite the timing.

" _No – Ash told me everything. Man's a genius, but he folds like a cheap suit. Now you put my damn daughter on the phone_ ," Ellen ordered him and he swallowed a second time.

"She's gonna have to call you back…she's taking care of, uh, feminine business," Dean lied and Hayley rolled her eyes with a sigh. Only a guy could think of a stupid excuse like that.

" _Yeah, right. Where is she?_ " Ellen pressed him on, not buying into it. He hesitated for a moment, looking desperately at Hayley and Sam, but they just shrugged. _"Where is she?!_ " Ellen's voice was getting angrier now.

"Look, we'll get her back," Dean finally spat out and he could feel the phone trembling in Ellen's hand. The irritation was radiating off of her even from miles away.

" _Get her back? Back from what?_ " Ellen asked, her voice almost deafening.

"The spirit we're hunting, it took her," Dean said as he could feel the guilt wash over him. He should have known better. He should have protected her, but instead he had let everyone down.

" _Oh my God_ ," Ellen mumbled almost inaudibly. He knew she was close to tears now.

"She'll be okay, I promise," Dean assured her, but he couldn't possibly know that. He might have told her just another lie.

" _You promise. That is not the first time I've heard that from a Winchester_ ," she scoffed and he knitted his brows when he heard that. What did she mean by that?

"What?" He asked confused.

" _If anything happens to her…_ ," Ellen started her threat, but there was no need to. He was kicking his own ass enough already.

"It won't. I won't let it. Ellen, I'm sorry, I really am," Dean said, his voice taking on a more determined tone.

" _I'm taking the first flight out. I'll be there in a few hours_ ," Ellen informed him before she hung up the phone.

"Dammit!" Dean groaned angrily, throwing his phone onto the couch.

"Don't beat yourself up, Dean. There's nothing you could have done," Sam said, trying to calm him a bit.

"Yeah, Dean, it's not your fault," Hayley said softly and he scoffed.

"Damn right, it isn't," he muttered and she turned her head at him.

"What? What's that supposed to mean? That it's my fault?!" Hayley asked, getting a little fed up with his attitude by now. She knew he was just worried, but the four were all adults, who knew what they had signed up for.

"Well, who else is to blame? Huh? Who encouraged her, invited her to come along? You did! After I specifically told you not to!" He threw at her.

"Guys, stop! This isn't the solution," Sam tried to intervene, but they just kept arguing over his head again.

"She deserves a chance, Dean! She wanted to do this! I just wanted to help her and _you_ ," Hayley countered and he froze still for a moment and she could tell she had just made things worse.

"Let me get one thing straight, I didn't ask for your help. In fact, nobody ever does! You just swoop in and make things worse. That's what you do best," Dean snapped.

"Jo would've come either way! You taught me, why can't you just teach her? I don't see what's wrong with that," Hayley argued and he rolled his eyes.

"Of course, you wouldn't," he scoffed and she glared at him. "Jo's different. She's human! She _can_ get hurt," Dean spat out and regretted it as soon as the words had rolled off his tongue.

She didn't respond at first, sharing a look with Sam. "Unlike me, right? 'Cause I'm not human and therefore more expendable, right?" Hayley said, her voice showing a mix of anger and hurt.

"No, look, Hayles…that's not what I-," Dean started, trying to smoothen the situation, but she wouldn't have it.

"I don't care what you meant! You were clearly thinking it," she snapped and he looked at her perplexed. He didn't know how to respond. He hadn't treated her differently than any normal human being in a long time. He was fine with her having powers and all the perks that came with it. Truth was, he just wanted to hurt her where he knew it would hurt the most. But telling her that would just hurt her more than keep letting her believe he actually still thought this way about her.

"Guys, I think I've got something," Sam carefully interrupted the silence and the two looked at him, both exhaling deeply before they joined him at the table. "Look," he said, pointing at the blueprints of the murder castle. "You look at the layout of the Holmes' murder castle, there's all the torture chambers inside the walls, right?"

"Right," Dean said and Hayley nodded.

"But there's one we haven't considered yet. The one in his basement," Sam said, but the two just threw him confused looks.

"This building doesn't have a basement," Dean stated, wrinkling his forehead.

"You're right, it doesn't," Sam replied mysteriously before he continued. "But I just noticed this. Beneath the foundation…"

"There's an old sewer system," Hayley mumbled when she looked at where Sam's finger was pointing.

"Yeah, exactly," Sam said, smiling winningly. "It hasn't been used for…," he tried to tell them more, but Dean already tucked his gun behind his back.

"Great, let's go," he said impatiently, grabbing his jacket and heading out the door.

* * *

The three ended up looking through the streets of Philadelphia. According to the map, an old entry to the sewer system should be somewhere near their building. The boys were walking down a street, Sam carrying a metal detector while Dean held a shovel, when Hayley came to a halt next to them.

"Found it. It's two blocks down. C'mon," she informed them, gesturing them along. She had been running up and down the streets in a five mile radius, trying to find the entry with her own metal detector. She felt guilty about Jo. Maybe she shouldn't have invited the young blond, but she knew how it felt when no one ever was willing to believe in you.

They followed her to an empty field and Sam held the metal detector over a patch of grass as it went off. He gave a nod at Dean, who started digging.

It didn't take long and the shovel hit a metal surface. They removed the rest of the dirt with their bare hands until Dean found a handle to a trapdoor. He pulled the door open and the three stared down a dark shaft.

Dean climbed down first. He just wanted to get to Jo in time. He would never forgive himself if something happened to her. And he really didn't want to be the one to tell Ellen.

They landed feet first in the sewer system. Sam got out the flashlight, holding it over the map in Hayley's hands. There were various tunnels, connecting the whole city. One wrong turn and they could be lost for hours.

"How are we supposed to find her in time? We're two blocks away from our building," Dean said frustrated. He could hear the time ticking away in his head.

"Give me the shotgun. I'll run ahead," Hayley said and Sam handed her the gun.

"What? Are you crazy? You're not going in there alone," Dean argued, glaring at her. This was what got them into this mess in the first place. He glanced at Sam, who shrugged guiltily. They were simply out of options.

"I'm not alone. I'm gonna get you guys as soon as I find her. This is just precaution," Hayley said, gesturing at the shotgun in her hand. He hesitated. "Look, you said yourself, we're out of time."

"Go," he said quietly, his gut twisting at the thought of it, and she gave him a nod before she raced down the tunnels.

* * *

She stopped after a few turns, checking the map again. She was close, a few more steps and she would be directly under the field, where Holmes had been executed.

It had been quiet in the tunnels, except for a few rats running around and the dripping sounds of water. But the closer she came to the apartment building, the more different sounds she could hear. A tapping, which became hard kicking when she was really close.

The drumming stopped when the tunnels led her to a chamber. There were several tunnels leading away from it and a few compartments, locked with metal doors, on the walls all around it.

She could hear someone breathing. "Jo?" She called out carefully, taking a deep breath. She always thought it was stupid when people shouted for someone in horror movies, but now she got it. It was the last straw of hope that people had. If you got an answer, you were safe. If not…

"Hayley?" Jo's voice asked. She sounded relieved, and so was Hayley. She exhaled deeply.

"Yeah, I'm here. We're coming to get you," Hayley said as she spotted Jo's eyes looking through the cracks of her confinement.

"Where's Sam and Dean?" Jo asked. She was shaking and her hair was sticky with blood.

"They're not far behind," she told Jo. She got out her phone, calling Sam.

"Sam? I got her," she informed him.

" _Okay, we're almost there_ ," Sam said.

"Yeah, hurry," she told him, hanging up. "Okay, let's get you out of here." She used her powers to loosen the screws on the door before she broke the rest of it out of the wall.

Jo hopped out of the cove, coming to her feet a little wobbly and Hayley supported her with her arm.

"You okay?" Hayley asked and the blond nodded.

"Yeah…how did you do that?" Jo asked, gesturing back at the ripped out door.

"Super powers," Hayley replied simply and Jo stared at her shocked. She thought she might as well just get it out now.

"What?"

"Yeah, kind of a long story. I'll tell you over shots at the Roadhouse," Hayley said, but Jo kept looking at her with a baffled expression on her face before she eventually seemed to have digested it and nodded with a shrug.

"You hear that?" Jo asked her and the girls peaked their ears. They heard steps coming.

"That's them," Hayley said.

"Guys, we're here!" Jo called out and the steps started to move faster, coming closer.

"Jo, watch out!" Hayley shouted when she saw Holmes appear in the corner of her eye. Jo screamed when she saw him too.

Hayley didn't hesitate, aiming the shotgun at him, shooting once and the ghost disappeared into a puff of smoke as Jo ducked down.

The boys came running in just in time, having heard a shot being fired. "Hayley!" Dean warned her as the ghost reappeared behind her. He fired his own shotgun at the ghost and it vanished again. This time it hopefully would stay away for a while, at least until they got the girls out safely.

Teresa, the other girl that Holmes took, had been locked up close to Jo and as soon as they had gotten her out, Dean could finally worry about Jo. "You all right?" He asked, looking her up and down. She had a few scratches and bruises, but nothing too worrisome.

"Been better," she replied. "Let's get the hell out of here before he comes back."

"Actually, I don't think you're leaving here just yet," Dean said, stopping her from walking further.

"What?" The girls asked simultaneously, looking at him confused and he hesitated for a moment.

"Remember when I said you being bait was a bad plan? Now it's kind of the only one we got," Dean said, looking at Jo before he glanced briefly up at Hayley, who nodded encouragingly. She knew Jo could do this.

* * *

Jo looked nervous. She was shaking and trembling as she sat there quietly in the middle of the little room. She had her arms tightly wrapped around her knees, but her breathing was steady.

This time he didn't let her out of his sight for a second, always keeping a watchful eye on her, gun ready as they hid in one of the tunnels, waiting for Holmes' return.

He appeared behind her and she could feel him. The creepy, cold breath, reaching down her neck, giving her goosebumps.

"Now!" Dean yelled as soon as the ghost had gotten close enough and Jo dove forward while Hayley ran a circle around him, salting the room before she pulled Jo into their hiding space with her.

Holmes screamed as soon as he realized he had been trapped and there was no way he was getting out of here anytime soon.

"Scream all you want, you dick, but there's no way you're stepping over that salt!" Jo yelled at him before Dean pulled down a metal grate, sealing off the room.

* * *

Sam was waiting with the girls outside, in front of the trapdoor, while explaining to Jo how exactly Hayley got her powers.

"So this is why you're hunting, huh? Well, at least it explains a few things," Jo said with a smirk and Hayley chuckled with a nod.

"Yeah, it's kinda hard to go back to a normal life after that," Hayley said and Jo nodded understandingly. It finally all made sense to her now.

"So? What about you?" Hayley asked, looking at her with a smile.

"Is this job as glamorous as you thought it would be?" Sam asked her, smiling too, and Jo looked at them, shrugging.

"Well, except for all the pee-your-pants terror, yeah. Sure. But that Teresa girl's gonna live a life because of us. It's worth it, isn't it?" Jo replied, looking at them and the two nodded. Saving a life had always been worth it. That's why they were all in it.

"Yeah. Yeah it is," Sam agreed. He was glad Hayley had been right after all. And maybe she had been right about the other thing too. Sooner or later, his brother would need someone to hold on to – after he was gone, even if Dean was still in denial about that.

"Hey, what if somebody finds that sewer down there, or a storm washes the salt away?" Jo asked, looking at them. It was a fair question. They couldn't exactly salt and burn Holmes' body, because he was buried in concrete somewhere.

"Both very fine points," Hayley replied, looking cryptically up at Sam.

"Which is why we're waiting here," Sam said with a mysterious smile.

"For what?" Jo asked, looking at them confused. She spun around to a beeping sound behind her and jumped aside as a large cement truck rolled backwards into the field until it stopped close to the trapdoor.

"For that," Sam said, gesturing at Dean as he drove the cement mixer. His brother jumped out of the truck with a big grin on his face, walking over to them.

"You ripped off a cement truck?" Jo asked astonished, giggling.

"I'll give it back," Dean replied with a grin. He pulled down the pipe and the four watched as cement poured down the sewer entrance. "Well, that oughta keep him down there till hell freezes over," he said with a satisfied smile.

They finished up and Jo insisted to drive the cement truck this time, Sam accompanying her, sensing his brother needed to talk to Hayley after their fight before spending hours in a car together again.

Hayley leaned against the hood of the Impala, quietly sipping on her cup of coffee. It had around 45 degrees and she was wearing a beanie and a hoodie under her leather jacket. He watched her for a while, but she tried hard to avoid his gaze until he finally decided to walk over to her before Sam and Jo returned. They needed to clear the air.

"Hey, you did good," Dean said, trying to break the ice with a soft smile, but she just nodded absentmindedly, still not looking at him. "Look, I'm sorry about what I said earlier. You know I was just worried about Jo," he continued and she finally looked up at him.

"Yeah, I know. It's just…," Hayley started to say, biting down on her lip hard.

"Just?"

"I'm sick and tired of hearing that same old song, Dean! It's like one day you care and the next you don't. How am I supposed to trust you, huh?" She spat out and he looked at her surprised. He hadn't quite expected her to open up like that, but he knew she had every right to.

"I know. I'm sorry," Dean said, looking at her. He couldn't say more than that. "I promise I won't do this to you again, okay?" She nodded silently next to him and he smiled softly at her. "How about we go to Florida next? You love roller coasters. Or Six Flags, huh?"

She chuckled a bit before turning serious again. "Actually, I was thinking about going home…celebrating Christmas with my family in Central City," she said, glancing at him guiltily.

"Oh, yeah, sure. Figured," he replied, feigning a smile, but truthfully he was a little disappointed.

"Dean!" They heard an angry voice yell and turned around to see Ellen appear across the street from them. "Where's my daughter?"

"Good luck," Hayley mumbled as she jumped off the hood of the Impala. "I'm gonna go grab Sam and Jo."

"No, no, no, don't leave me here alone," Dean hissed at her as she walked away, but even her walk was fast.

Ellen was almost there, her facial expression displaying more than just anger.

"Hey, Ellen," he said with an awkward smile, greeting her with a nod.

* * *

The Impala had fallen into complete silence as soon as they had jumped into the car. Not a word had been said for over an hour and the backseat was getting pretty crammed – Hayley had to share with Sam and Jo while Ellen took the front with Dean.

Dean glanced nervously at Ellen, trying hard to keep his focus on the road, but the silence was killing him. He looked back at Jo in the rearview mirror. Her eyes flickered to him for a brief moment before she shared a look with Hayley and Sam.

The whole situation was awkward and Dean decided to put an end to it.

"Boy, you…you really weren't kidding about flying out, were you?" Dean said, looking at Ellen as he chuckled nervously. She didn't react at all and just kept staring ahead with a stern expression. "How about we listen to some music?" Dean suggested with a smile, turning on the radio.

To his bad, the song currently playing on the radio was _Cold as Ice_ by Foreigner and it didn't help the situation at all as Ellen simply shut off the radio again. _Fitting_ , he thought.

He couldn't think of anymore options and glanced back at the three for assistance, but they just shrugged and Dean sighed frustrated. "This is gonna be a long drive."

* * *

 **Nebraska**

The drive had been as dreadful as expected. Ellen hadn't lit up one single bit since and they only stopped when it had been absolutely necessary. Dean was exhausted from driving all night, but he knew this was soon from over.

They followed the Harvelle women inside the Roadhouse, Ellen still hadn't spoken a word as she stormed ahead, throwing her bag onto a table nearby.

"Ellen? This is my fault…," Hayley started to say. She felt like someone needed to say something.

"No, it's alright," Dean interrupted her. "It's my fault. Okay?" He said, looking at Ellen. "I lied to you and I'm sorry. But Jo did good out there, I think her Dad would be proud."

"Don't you dare say that. Not you," Ellen snapped angrily at him and Dean threw her a confused look. It had been the second time, she had said something like that to him. "I need a moment with my daughter. _Alone_."

The three nodded understandingly, heading back outside to the Impala.

* * *

"You know it's not your fault, right?" Hayley said as she caught up next to him.

"Yeah, I know. It's not yours either, by the way. You were right. Jo would've come either way," Dean replied and she smiled. "You might have been right about the other thing too…might be nice to have someone else around…you know to help us," he admitted and she chuckled amused.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever you say, Winchester," she replied with a grin. She was glad her mission was at least partially accomplished – Dean seemed a little happier now and Jo was on her way to be a badass hunter.

They turned around as Jo suddenly stormed out of the Roadhouse. As she saw they were still here, she changed her direction, heading away from them and Dean followed her. She seemed upset to say the least.

"That bad, huh?" He asked as he had picked up her pace.

"Not right now," the blond brushed him off.

"What happened?" Dean asked, but she didn't respond – or stop. "Hey, talk to me," he pleaded, touching her arm, trying to get her to slow down.

"Get off me!" She yelled at him as she slapped away his hand. She clearly didn't want to be bothered right now or talk to him, although he wasn't sure what he had done now that was so bad.

"Sorry. See you around," he replied, beat, and turned to leave.

"Dean," she called after him, finally stopping and he walked a few steps back to her. "It turns out my Dad had a partner on his last hunt. Funny, he usually worked alone – this guy did too, but…I guess my father figured he could trust him. Well, big mistake. Guy screwed up, got my Dad killed," Jo said. Her face was angry and there were tears starting to form in her brown eyes.

"What does this have to do with…" Dean looked at her confused.

"It was your _father_ , Dean," Jo replied and his eyes widened.

"What?" He asked her shocked. He just couldn't believe it.

"Why do you think John never came back? Never told you about us?" Jo said, looking at him sternly. "Because he couldn't look my Mom in the eye after that, that's _why_."

"Jo…" He tried to think of something else to say, but nothing came to his mind that made sense now.

"Just…just get out of here. Please, just leave," Jo said, avoiding his gaze as she wiped away a tear from her cheek. She turned her back to him, walking away and he stared after her. Maybe it was for the better she stayed as far away from him as possible.

"I'm sorry," Hayley said as she appeared next to him and he nodded quietly, not looking at her. "C'mon," she said, entangling her arm around his and gestured him back to the Impala.

"Where?" He asked, looking at her.

"Back home," she replied with a soft smile.

"Thought you were going alone?" Dean asked and she could swear he had seemed upset about that fact.

"Well, changed my mind. Besides, drinking eggnog isn't as much fun alone," she said and he chuckled.

"Yeah, and you can't even get drunk," Dean teased her and she laughed.

"Which is a pity. The Wests make a mean eggnog," Hayley said as they walked back to the Impala, where Sam had been waiting for them.

"Hey, I'm happy to drink for you," Dean said with a grin and they laughed.

"Dean," Hayley said, stopping. "I'm sure Jo's gonna change her mind too," she said and he nodded. He appreciated what she was doing, giving him a little hope, even though he didn't believe it.

"Yeah, maybe," he replied and they jumped into the Impala, driving off. They wouldn't come by the Roadhouse for a while.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Yay, guys were going to Central City soon! So thrilled about the next chapter. It will definitely change a few things... ;)  
As excited as I am about writing the next one as anxious I was about writing this one. I shipped Dean and Jo so hard when I started watching ten years ago (some of you probably feel different, but hey that's what the fandom is for, right?). I so didn't wanna make this into a bitchy/catfight kinda chapter (I'm so sick of this girl drama all the time, where they claw each other's eyes out over a guy). I think there was no need to and I love the friendship Hayley is developing with Jo. Even if the Dean/Jo thing might not be a big deal in the end, I still feel those story lines are important for character development (like Hayley/Mike). So let me know what you thought about my approach on this! I'm really curious :D

Thank you all for reading, reviewing and loving this story! Read you guys soon! :)


	9. Lights Out

_I saw it coming_  
 _Like the shadow on the wall_  
 _You started running_  
 _When everything turned cold_

 _Nobody warned you_  
 _The tables would turn_  
 _I could have told you_  
 _Everything you've learnt_  
 _Would burn to dust_  
 _Now there's no one you can trust_  
 _Just someone you used to love_

 _How did something so sweet tear us apart?_  
 _On a sinking ship with a heavy heart_  
 _How did we get so dark?_

 _How Did We Get So Dark?_ by **Royal Blood**

* * *

 **9\. Lights Out (X-Over)**

 **Central City, Missouri**

"They're here!" Iris shouted at her Dad as she ran past him into the kitchen. Joe sat on the couch, reading a paper and glanced outside the window his daughter had just looked out of. "I'll go get the eggnog!"

He got up from the couch with a sigh, putting the paper aside and walked over to the front door. It burst open before his hand could even reach the handle.

"I'm here!" His daughter yelled before realizing he was standing right there. "Oh, you're here!" Hayley exclaimed excitedly, hugging him.

"Glad to see you, kid," Joe greeted her with a smile. "Where's the tree?"

"Oh, it's coming," she said with a grin. "Boys?" Hayley yelled, looking outside the opened front door, where Sam and Dean were struggling with a Christmas tree. She heard a few groans as response. "Yeah, they got. So where's Iris?"

Joe gestured her to the kitchen, already knowing none of his daughters could resist the eggnog. He helped the boys carry the tree inside and they put it next to the fireplace in the living room.

"Huh, looks nice," Joe said and Dean beamed proudly. "Did you pay for it?" Joe asked, raising an eyebrow and he chuckled nervously. He hadn't. In fact, he had devised a clever plan with Sam to steal one – so, you could say he at least had worked for it.

"No, we worked for it," Dean replied and Sam nodded nervously.

"Uh-huh," Joe replied before Hayley and Iris returned from the kitchen, interrupting them.

"Tree looks good," Iris said with a smile. She was in full Christmas spirit. She had loved this holiday ever since they were children.

"Yeah, they stole it," Joe muttered.

"You told him you stole it?" Hayley asked, looking at the brothers with a raised eyebrow.

"No, we didn't," they replied simultaneously and Joe smirked at them.

"Oh."

"Oldest cop trick in the world," Joe replied with a smug smile and Hayley frowned.

"Man, I always fall for that one," Hayley complained.

"Yeah, you do," Iris replied, glancing at her sister. It had been a problem in their teenage years.

"You know, at this rate, we'll be finished by Easter," Joe said, glancing at the boxes around them.

"Yeah, these ornaments are not gonna hang themselves," Iris said, glancing up at her sister and Joe looked at Hayley too.

"Really, guys? Do I look like Santa?" Hayley protested, lifting her brows at them when she realized what her family wanted.

"You both wear a red suit," Dean muttered and she threw him a look.

"Just sayin', this is cheating…," she said before she vanished into a bolt of lightning and seconds later the whole tree had been decorated as well as the rest of the living room.

"Okay, time for some eggnog," Iris said thrilled, giving each of them a cup. "Grandma Esther's recipe…light on the bourbon." The boys coughed a little when they took their first sip.

"Mhmm, I always loved her definition of light," Joe said with a chuckle as he looked at his ringing cell phone with a frown. "And the Christmas tradition continues. Sorry, kids, the D.A. wants to ask me some questions. Make sure there's some nog left for me when I get back," he said, getting up from his comfy chair.

"No promises," Dean mumbled, chuckling. That eggnog was delicious.

"So, what's new?" Hayley asked her sister as they sipped on their drinks and Iris gave her a guilty look.

* * *

"Who is she again?" Hayley asked as she glanced over to Iris next to her. They had taken a far away booth in the corner of the bar. Mike was bartending as usual and talking intensely to a brunette woman.

"Linda Parks. She works with me at CCPN. We were here for drinks after work last week and those two hit it off. I'm so sorry, Hayles," Iris said, looking at her sympathetically.

"What you're sorry for? It's great…awesome, really," Hayley replied as she looked at Linda. She was definitely hot as she could rock jeans shorts and a very loose top. Her brown hair fell in waves to her shoulders. And apparently she was funny too as Mike kept laughing every few seconds.

"Really? Huh," Iris said, lifting a brow questioningly.

"Yeah, totally. So what does she do at CCPN? Bring coffee? Make copies?" Hayley asked and Iris knew this was the last straw her sister was clinging onto.

"Uh, no, not exactly. She's a sports reporter," Iris replied reluctantly and Hayley frowned.

"Sports? Great…Sports is great. I'm sure they have a lot to talk about. Mike loves sports," Hayley said, accidentally knocking over a glass in front of her.

"I'm gonna hit you if you say _great_ one more time," Iris threatened her with a blank face.

"Whoa, ladies, what are we talking about?" Dean asked with a smirk as he and Sam sat down across from them.

"Mike's new girlfriend," Iris replied and Hayley slapped her arm.

"She's not his girlfriend. You said they just met last week," Hayley threw in.

"And how long did it take you two until you started dating?" Iris asked her with a smirk and she frowned.

"Oh my God, they could be engaged by now," Hayley whined, banging her head on the table and the boys chuckled.

"So this is you jealous. Huh," Dean commented, looking at her and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"I'm not jealous," Hayley said through gritted teeth.

"Okay, sure," Dean mumbled, rolling his eyes back with a chuckle. "Well, he's got good taste. She's hot," he said with a low whistle as he looked appreciatively over to Linda and the girls threw him a look.

"Not helping!" Hayley protested angrily.

"I'm gonna stab you with this fork," Iris threatened him, holding up a fork in her hand and he looked at her shocked. He looked helplessly over to Sam, who tried hard to contain his laughter. Iris was a lot like her father. Especially when she was angry, she was damn right scary. She obviously was very protective of her sister and Hayley chuckled.

"Uh, I could go for some darts," Sam said and Iris clapped excitedly.

"Oh, me too! I'll come with," she announced and hopped on over to the entertainment section of the bar.

"Okay, then," Sam mumbled surprised, following her, and Dean and Hayley chuckled.

"Geez, how many of those fruity drinks has Iris already had?" Dean asked, sniggering as he watched his little brother and Iris play some darts.

"Uh, only one, but she did drink a lot of eggnog in the afternoon," Hayley replied.

"Man, that eggnog is awesome," Dean said dreamily and she giggled. "Here. You look like you could need it and it doesn't look like you are going over there anytime soon," Dean said, shoving a beer bottle over to her, gesturing at the bar.

"You know what? Screw this. I'm going over there," Hayley said determinedly and Dean looked at her surprised.

With every step she took closer to the bar, her heart started beating even faster than usual. Her brain was filled with so many things, she almost forgot how to breathe, remembering just in time before she stood in front of him.

"Hayley!" Mike exclaimed surprised when he saw her. He seemed a little uncomfortable as he kept glancing awkwardly over to Linda. "I didn't know you'd be back so soon."

"Well, it has been two months, so…," Hayley replied with a shrug. There had been a time when he couldn't wait until she was back.

"Right, uh, Hayley…uh, this is Linda. Parks. She works with Iris," Mike introduced the two women. He looked at Hayley for a moment before he realized her still had to introduce her as well. "Right, I'm an idiot! Linda, this is Hayley...Iris' sister," he said with an awkward smile and Hayley narrowed her eyes at him. _Iris' sister, sure_ , Hayley thought.

"Yeah, me and Mike are really old college buddies," Hayley replied with a smirk and Mike frowned.

"Oh c'mon, not that old," Mike replied, feigning a chuckle. "And not that close either," he added and Linda nodded amused.

"Well, how close can you really get if you've only been dating for two years, you know," Hayley replied, looking at Linda with a shrug and Mike laughed uncomfortably.

"Okay…Hayley, what can I help you with?" Mike asked, frowning. She knew he was ready to kill her anytime soon and she didn't want to piss him off completely.

"Oh, I just wanted a drink," Hayley replied.

"Great, what?" Mike sighed.

"Oh, c'mon, you know what I like, Mikey," she replied with a smirk and he threw her a death-stare. He had always hated it when she called him _Mikey_. She made a quick mental promise that it would be her last jab for the night.

Mike put a glass with club soda in front of her with a smirk. "Club Soda?" She looked up at him confused.

"Your favorite drink, right? I know you're not allowed to drink alcohol after the head accident," Mike replied with a grin and she frowned. _Well played_ , she thought. Now he would just tell Linda, she was crazy. Which he wasn't that wrong about though. She did feel a little insane at the moment.

She sat down across from Dean with a big sigh, looking miserably at her club soda.

"Went that well, huh?" Dean asked, looking at her. He had never seen her like this. Last week, he thought he might have seen a glimpse of jealous Hayley when Jo had joined their case, but boy, had he been wrong. _This_ was jealous Hayley in all her glory.

"He won," Hayley replied as she put some of her alcohol into her soda.

"I'm not so sure," Dean said with a soft smile and she looked up at him. He couldn't bare to look at this any longer. "She actually looks a little like you," he added and she glanced over to Linda.

"She kinda does," Hayley said, realizing and started to smile again and he chuckled.

"Yeah, she's like the brown-eyed version of you…still comes in second place though," Dean said with a wink and she looked up at him with a happy smile.

"Thank you...why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden?" She asked suspiciously, raising her brows and he shrugged.

"You helped me a few days ago. Just returning the favor," Dean replied with a soft smile, referring to Jo. "Now we're even and can move on and forget about it."

"Already on it," Hayley replied as she chugged the little vile with speedster booze.

"That's my girl. Cheers," Dean said with a grin, taking a gulp from his beer.

* * *

It was early in the morning when she arrived at the crime scene at Mercury Labs. She was wearing jeans, her black boots and a coat. Central City was pretty south of Missouri, but even here it could get cold. Plus, the little hangover she had, caused her goosebumps. The boys had still been dead-asleep when she had rushed out of the apartment and came straight here.

She was still investigating the blood on the floor when Joe and the boys joined her. She shook her head at them. Even though Dean was technically presumed dead, only one cop around needed to recognize his face from the APB a year ago.

"Hey, what are you thinking?" Dean asked, looking at her.

"That you two will get arrested soon if you keep this up," Hayley replied, but he just grinned at her in response and she frowned. "The victims are two security guards from Mercury Labs. They were killed last night. The blood splatter patterns and trajectory of the remains…only a high-speed collision could have done this. But to cause this type of damage to a human in this space? Whatever hit them would have to have been moving fast," she explained with an odd feeling in her gut.

"Get this," Eddie said as he ran over to them. "The witness says all he saw was a blur. Sound familiar?"

Joe and Dean shared a look before they noticed Hayley was already storming over to the witness.

"Hayley! Hayles, wait!" Dean called after her, but she was already standing in front of the man. He was in his thirties, wearing a white lab coat and glasses and was one of Mercury Lab's scientists.

"You saw a blur?" Hayley asked him straight-forward and Dean frowned. She was like a dog with a bone. "What was it?"

"Whatever it was, it was looking for something," the doctor replied and Dean started to wonder what they were working on in here. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good if that thing wanted it.

"Well, what did it look like?" Hayley questioned the man further. She just needed to hear him say it.

"Like a…a man in some kind of yellow suit," the doctor replied a little confused. Hayley's eyes widened and she rushed off. She didn't seem upset though, but more determined and eager, which worried Dean even more.

"Hayley, wait!" Dean shouted after her and she stopped to his surprise.

"Dean, you heard him. The guy that killed my Mom…he's back," Hayley said, looking more upset now and he sighed a little relieved, feeling immediately guilty afterward. But he was just glad, she wasn't trying to get herself killed.

"I know. He's been in town for a while," Dean said with a sigh and her eyes widened in shock. She needed to know now. She could be in danger if he was really back.

"What?! How do you know? And why didn't you tell me? For how long?" Hayley asked, getting angrier with each question.

"For a few months now," Dean replied rather guiltily. He had hated lying to her, because he knew it would end like this.

"I can't believe you didn't say anything! Why would you keep this from me?" Hayley asked him, but it was more shouting than asking.

"Uh…"

"Because I told him not to," Joe said, interrupting them and they looked up at him.

"You knew?" She felt like her world was turning upside down. Why would they keep this from her?

"He came to town a few months ago, took all files of your mother's case…he threatened to kill Iris, Hayley," Joe said and she looked shocked at him.

"Why, why would he threaten her?" Hayley asked confused.

"Because I reopened your mother's case a year ago. I wanted to do right by you," Joe replied and she looked at him.

 _A year_ ago, she thought. She knew Joe was just trying to protect Iris, trying to protect _her_. She felt tears coming to her eyes.

"I need some air," she said, rushing outside and leaving the three behind. She couldn't bare to look at them any longer. She didn't know what to think.

"She'll calm down," Joe assured the boys and they nodded. But they were worried. They knew they needed to fix this.

* * *

Sam and Dean made their way to S.T.A.R. Labs next. Even though Dean didn't like it, they were the only ones who really could help them with this case.

"The witness described seeing a yellow blur just like the one that killed Hayley's mother," Dean informed Cisco, who sat down at the computer immediately.

"Then we need to get cracking and stop this speed psycho," Cisco said, clapping his hands together once. "That…I wasn't trying to give him a name," he added. He would definitely come up with something better for his friend's nemesis.

"The crime scene at Mercury Labs was on a floor with highly secured vaults, and the witness said he was looking for something," Dean continued.

"Whatever it was, he wanted it badly enough to kill for it. Dr. Wells, what do you know about Mercury Labs?" Sam asked, looking at Wells, who had been quietly listening this entire time.

"Mercury was one of S.T.A.R. Labs' major competitors until our little setback, and then it catapulted to the forefront led by Dr. Christina McGee," Wells replied and Cisco pulled up a file about McGee on the big screen. She was an older woman with grey hair and looked a little snobby. "Brilliant but egocentric physicist," Wells added with a chuckle.

"Get this, it says here Dr. McGee has secured half a billion dollars in private funding to develop, and I quote, _prototypes for the technology of the future_ ," Sam said as he read from an article on Cisco's screen.

"Well, I'll be…Tina's messing with tachyons," Wells mused and the brothers looked at him confused. "Superluminal particles," he added as it was obvious.

"Of course," Dean replied with an embarrassed chuckle and Sam threw him a look. "So what could someone do with one of those…," Dean tried to ask, but had already forgotten the word. _Couldn't they just hunt a stupid vampire?_

"Tachyons," Sam helped him.

"Thank you," Dean replied, looking at him surprised. His little brother was such a nerd sometimes.

"Well, I don't know. Become invincible?" Wells replied with a smirk. "If you could devise a matrix stable enough to harness their power, you could travel faster than light," he continued and Dean looked at him.

"He's gonna try to get them again, isn't he?" Sam said, looking at them and Dean nodded.

"Probably. So we need to get what Mercury has and use it as bait," Dean suggested.

"Exactly right, Mr. Winchester," Wells said with a nod, smiling and it made him feel uncomfortable. He should have known better than to trust Wells. They shouldn't have come here. "Cisco, Caitlin, let's start engineering a trap."

"You got it," Caitlin replied with a smile. She and Cisco then disappeared into one of the nearby lab rooms, Wells following after them.

"I'm gonna go check on Hayley. Get her updated," Dean said and Sam looked at him.

"Okay. You want me to come with?" Sam asked carefully and Dean frowned.

"No, I think I can handle her. You stay here and keep an eye on Wells and the team," Dean said and Sam nodded.

"You really think he's got something to do with Nora's murder?" Sam asked, looking up at him.

"Joe thinks so and there's definitely something wrong with the guy. You see it, don't you?" Dean asked, but Sam hesitated.

"Yeah, I guess we'll have to find out," he replied and Dean frowned.

* * *

She was staring outside the big windows of her lab at CCPD. The city seemed quiet for now as the sun set behind the horizon. She spun around on her swiveling chair and looked at the board in front of her. It was filled with newspaper articles, files, photos, interviews, she had gathered over the years from her mother's case.

 _He was back._

For more than thirteen years, she had been waiting for him. But what was she supposed to do now? She felt scared and worst of all, she couldn't talk to anyone about it. Mike was with Linda now, the brothers had lied to her and she couldn't even talk to Iris after what Joe had told her. She was alone in this. Maybe she had always been.

She felt a pain in her stomach when she thought about her sister. He had threatened to kill her just like he had killed her mother. She needed to stop him.

"Hey," Dean said and she glanced up at him as he entered her lab.

"Hey," she replied rather unhappy to see him and Dean sighed, but walked a few steps closer nonetheless.

"What you got there?" Dean asked as he looked at her board and frowned, realizing what it was.

"Everything I have on my Mom's murder," she replied. "Started it thirteen years ago."

"I didn't know you had that," Dean said surprised. She had never told him she was collecting files on the case.

"Yeah, I know," Hayley said dryly, looking at him. "That's because you don't know me, Dean. Not at all."

"Hayley, I'm sorry. I was just trying to-," Dean started, but she interrupted him.

"To what? Protect me? I didn't ask you to do that, Dean! I asked you to help me with this, not lie to my face about it!" She threw at him and he looked at her. "And I know how ironic that sounds, coming from me. Maybe it's only fair you lied to me for months. After all, that's what I did to you."

"No, it's not. I shouldn't have lied. Just listen to me…," Dean tried to argue, but she interrupted him again.

"What?"

He let out deep breath, looking at her. "There's something I need to show you."

* * *

The Impala drove down a familiar road and as he parked the car in the driveway, she knew where they were – her old house.

She hadn't been here since her last visit over a month ago and carefully followed Dean inside as he led the way. He knew his way around – like he had been here a lot and she realized, he probably had been. They certainly had led a very thorough investigation.

"Dean, what are we doing here?" Hayley finally asked, looking at him concerned. She didn't necessarily enjoy being here and he noticed it. He remembered feeling the same when he set a step into his old house.

"Have you ever been here since that night?" He asked her and she swallowed. During his and Joe's whole investigation, he never had the chance to interview the witness. Unfortunately, that just so happened to be Hayley.

"Actually, I have," she replied and he looked at her surprised.

"Really? When?" Dean asked. This could throw their whole theory so far.

"A month ago. After we went to Greenville," Hayley said quietly and he nodded. Greenville had been a hard case for all of them and he knew even back then that it had stirred something up in her. "Why?"

"Never mind…we were here before that," he mumbled and she looked at him confused before he gestured her over to a different wall, pointing at some blood splatter on the wall. She looked at him wide-eyed. She hadn't noticed it the last time she had been here.

"Dean, what is that?" She asked, looking up at him.

"Your blood," he replied simply.

"What? That's not possible! I wasn't even downstairs-," Hayley argued, but he interrupted her.

"It's not from you back then," Dean replied.

"Oh, now you're making more sense," Hayley huffed and he chuckled. For once she had to drink her own medicine.

"This mirror? Remember it?" Dean asked as he pointed at a little dresser with a mirror. She recognized it.

"Yeah, it belonged to my grandma. How is it still here?" Hayley asked.

"Just be glad it is," Dean mumbled, looking at her. "Look…I don't fully know how Cisco did it, but he managed to extract some photos from it."

"Silver nitrate," Hayley said, thinking. Cisco was a fucking genius.

"Right. Anyways, it showed two speedsters here that night," Dean continued.

"Two?" Hayley raised a brow at him. She had always suspected there had been a second one.

"Yeah, there were definitely two in the photos and the blood on the wall is from two different people. We believe one of them carried you blocks away that night," Dean said.

"You had the blood tested?" She asked and he nodded.

"One was inconclusive…and one was you. But _this_ you," Dean said, pointing at her. "Cisco had the samples analyzed and the proteins in the blood were that of an adult, not a child. Whatever that means…"

"But Dean, this would mean that I could…" She couldn't say it. It sounded crazy.

"Time travel," he filled in for her and she swallowed. "Yeah, crazy, right?"

"Crazy is an understatement. That's insane, Dean! That's why you asked me about time travel in Greenville…you knew about this whole gigantic thing and decided not to tell me?" She looked at him reproachfully.

"Look, I wanted to. I really did, but Joe was against it. And honestly so was I. You weren't ready and you aren't ready now either," Dean said, looking at her. He didn't want her to get hurt.

"Don't give me this bullshit again! We said no more secrets and you kept more secrets!" She snapped at him.

"I know I should've told you. This thing threatened Iris," Dean argued.

"Yeah, exactly! He threatened to kill my sister and you didn't tell me! How am I supposed to trust you? You're supposed to be my friend! You're supposed to be on my side!" She yelled at him and he sighed frustrated.

"I am on your side, Hayley!" He yelled at her and she let out a heavy breath.

"I know you mean well…but maybe we should stop all this and take a break," she said after a moment of silence.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked, looking at her. He didn't like where this was going.

"You know in the beginning I thought we were in it for the same reason…something evil took our moms away. But…we're different. You and Sam want revenge and to kill that demon and I get that, but I want justice, Dean. I want my Dad out of prison. This is my fight, not yours," Hayley said and he nodded. He understood the sentiment more than she could imagine.

"I'm sorry, Hayley," he said quietly.

"Yeah, I know," she replied with a sad smile on her face. "This whole friendship thing doesn't seem to work out for us. Maybe we should treat this as it is – a business relationship. I mean that's how it started…maybe we're better off this way."

"Does that mean you're staying after this?" Dean asked, looking up at her.

"I don't know yet. Let's just catch this asshole," she replied and he nodded.

* * *

She unlocked the door to her apartment, throwing her boots off. This had been the hardest day of all of them so far. She was definitely alone now.

She poured herself some coffee as she noticed something outside the windows. She walked a few steps closer. There was a figure standing on top of the building across from her. She dropped her mug when she recognized the yellow suit. And the man disappeared into red lightning.

She raced after him without thinking twice. This was her chance. She could finally catch him. She had an easy time catching up to him and he eventually came to a halt in front of her.

He blurred his face and not even with her vision adjusting to his speed, she could see his face. He was really fast.

"It was you. You were the one in my house that night. You killed my mother! Why?" It was a silly question, but she needed to know. Why did he choose her? Why not someone else?

"If you want to know that, you're gonna have to catch me," he replied, vibrating his voice and she frowned. She was not in a mood to play games with her mother's killer.

She raced after him through the city. He was faster than she had expected. When she rounded a corner, he would round two. He was always ahead.

She followed him to the Central City stadium, coming to a stop on the side of the field. He was no were in sight until the lights in the arena around her turned on. He stood across from her, facing her. Challenging her.

The lightning flickered in her eyes and the two raced toward each other. No one willing to back away.

They crashed – or _she_ crashed. He ran through her like she was nothing. She took a tumble and landed on the soft grass.

"Not fast enough, Flash," he said as he stood above her before he raced off again. She groaned as she got up, following him. She wouldn't give up that easy.

They ran a few rounds through the stadium. He would let her get close, only to go faster again when she could almost reach him. He was taunting her, playing with her and she didn't like it one bit. She hated being anyone's puppet.

He suddenly grabbed her, seemingly having enough of his little game and dragged her to the field, throwing her hard to the ground. He kicked her stomach, throwing her like a football and she realized why he had picked this place – it was fitting.

"Who are you?" She asked him when he was giving her a quick break and she understood what the word _quick_ meant in speedster world better than anyone else.

"You know who I am, Hayley," he replied.

She used her chance to get up again and take a punch, but he already knew she would do this. He grabbed her arm, holding it in place, and punched her instead. He hit her repeatedly until he threw her across the field again with one final punch.

"I don't know who you are," she yelled at him.

"But you do, Hayley," he replied and she looked at him confused. Did he really think she would bother to go through a whole investigation if she already knew the secret? "We've been at this a long time, you and I, but I'm always one step ahead," he added and she could almost hear him smile underneath his mask.

She had gone from football to punching bag in a matter of seconds. She didn't care about her bleeding wounds and broken bones. She couldn't even feel anything. She just wanted answers. She just wanted him to pay for what he did.

She got up again, trying to hit him with one hard punch, but he grabbed her, throwing her onto the field. Her threw her on her stomach, standing on top of her and holding her in place as he pressed her face into the grass. He could kill her here and now, and it would all be over.

"It is your destiny to lose to me, Flash," he whispered into her ear. "Just as it was your mother's destiny to die that night."

She could feel his hold over her fading and when she got back up from the ground, he was gone.

* * *

It certainly hadn't been the first time since she became the Flash that she entered S.T.A.R. Labs with a couple of broken rips and a bleeding lip. But it was rare that the brothers were here as well. She had almost doubted they would be here after the fight she had with Dean.

She ran into the boys in the hallway. They looked at her shocked and she realized how bad she must really look.

"Hayley, what the hell happened?" Dean asked her. His voice already sounded a little irritated – a sign of concern.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just need to talk to the team," she replied, hurrying past them.

"What happened?" Sam asked.

"I ran into him," Hayley replied.

"You went after him? Hayley, he could've killed you," Dean said upset.

"Believe me, if he wanted to do that, he could have," she replied and he frowned.

"Oh well, that's reassuring," Dean retorted and she threw him a look.

"Look, he was right there outside my apartment window. What was I supposed to do? Offer him tea?" Hayley said sarcastically and he rolled his eyes as they entered the cortex.

"He was taunting you. You're not ready. You don't even have a plan," Dean argued and she sighed frustrated. Hadn't they agreed to stop with all of this?

"I'm aware, thank you," Hayley snapped.

"Uh, what the hell are we talking about?" Joe asked and they looked at him. They hadn't realized the whole team was already here.

"Yeah, and why are you bleeding?" Cisco asked, pointing at her head. _Oh great_ , she thought. She hadn't even realized she had a gnashing head wound as well.

"I'll go get some supplies," Caitlin said as she hopped to the med bay and Hayley smiled gratefully at her.

"Hayley went up against the man in the yellow suit," Sam informed them and they turned to Hayley in shock.

"I'm fine, guys," Hayley said a little frustrated by now. She was sick of everyone doubting her and trying to protect her. They might as well just cover her in bubble wrap and get it over with.

"I really need to come up with a better name for this guy," Cisco mumbled with a frown.

"The weirdest thing was…he acted like he knew me, like we'd done this before," Hayley said, looking at Dean.

"He was antagonizing you, Hayles," Joe said, but she shook her head.

"No, maybe it has something to do with this time travel stuff," Hayley said. Joe threw Dean a look and he bit down on his lip. Hayley probably wasn't supposed to know about that yet, but he didn't care anymore.

"You know about that?" Cisco asked surprised, throwing Dean a look as well. But it wasn't angry like Joe's – he was thankful. He had hated the secrecy as much as Dean had.

"What time travel stuff?" Caitlin asked with a raised brow as she walked out of the med bay with a couple of supplies in her hands.

"I actually like to know that as well," Dr. Wells chimed in and Dean frowned. That's why he wasn't supposed to tell Hayley yet. Wells was still a suspect.

"Uh, we found evidence at the old Allen house that might indicate Hayley, the Flash, might have been there that night as well," Joe replied, carefully phrasing his sentence.

"Time Travel," Wells mused curiously.

"Well, if the last two years have proven anything, it's that anything can exist, and I'm all for the impossible…but to actually travel through time?" Hayley said out loud. It still gave her a headache, thinking about it.

"Well, the greatest minds in human history put their collective genius towards solving that puzzle," Wells said.

"So, is it possible?" Dean asked, arching his brows.

"Yes, it's possible," Wells replied with a smile. "But problematic," he added quickly. "Assuming you could create the conditions necessary to take that journey…well, that journey would then be fraught with potential pitfalls. The Novikov principle of self-consistency, for example."

"Wait, the what, now?" Dean asked, frowning.

"If you travel back in time to change something, then you end up being the causal factor of that event," Wells replied.

"Like _Terminator_ ," Cisco clarified and Dean nodded with a smile. That was more the language he understood – movies.

"Or is time plastic? Is it mutable whereby any changes to the continuum could create an alternate timeline," Wells continued.

" _Back To The Future_ ," Hayley informed Dean and he nodded with a chuckle.

"Oh, saw that one too," Joe chimed in.

"Doc Brown. Tremendous picture," Wells agreed.

"Right. So what's the answer?" Sam asked, looking at Wells.

"I might be a clever guy, but if you're asking me to give you a working theory on how to travel through time, I'm afraid I just can't do that," Wells replied.

"Great, so we're back at square one," Hayley said frustrated.

"For now at least," Wells said.

"It's just so frustrating. I would get close, and he'd just pull away. I mean, this was just some sick game to him," Hayley said, looking at them.

"You'll catch him. We'll help," Wells assured her.

"Yeah, Hayles, you're not alone," Sam said and she looked up at him.

"No, you don't get it, all right? His speed, it is…it's beyond me. I'm not the fastest person alive. _He_ is," she said.

"Okay, so how do we catch someone that's even faster than Hayley?" Dean asked, looking at Cisco.

"The beautiful thing about force fields is they're impervious to speed," Wells replied.

"Yeah, I set up a ton of super capacitors and I'm almost done smoothing out the inflection points. Soon we'll have a kick-ass force field to trap the Opposite Flash," Cisco informed them with a smirk. "That was me testing out a name."

"Now, all that remains is for Detective West to procure the bait," Wells said, looking at Joe.

"I already talked to Dr. McGee. She's not budging. She thinks she can take care of this herself," Dean replied.

"I'm on it," Hayley threw in, already rushing out the door.

"Hayley, why don't you stay here?" Joe asked his daughter, but she frowned. She still looked pretty beat up and he'd rather have her rest a little.

"No, Joe, today is not the day to tell me to stay behind," she replied stubbornly, heading outside and Joe shared a look with the boys.

* * *

She might have won the argument to come and talk to McGee herself, but she couldn't get rid of the brothers and they neatly stood behind her in their suits as she and Joe talked to the doctor.

"If Judge Hankerson was gonna sign this, he would have done so already," Dr. McGee argued in a strong British accent.

"Look, I'm sure you don't want this investigation to get any more public than it's already been, do you, doctor?" Joe tried to persuade her.

"This has Harrison Wells written all over it in big, black letters," she protested angrily. Dean had told her about the doctor's hatred over Wells. "I am not giving you my tachyon prototype."

"It was quite the tour of your facility, doctor," Hayley suddenly said and they looked at her. "You were fine to let us dumb cops walk around, but I graduated from MIT, and I saw a whole lot of stuff that _Science Showcase Magazine_ would love to hear about. So should I call their editors directly or just leave a few posts on their website?" She asked the doctor non-chalantly and the older woman looked at her shocked. The saddest part was, she had been a fan of doctor McGee for years. She was one of the few female pioneers in science.

"You'll have the tachyon device within the hour," McGee replied bitterly. "I see why Harrison holds you in such esteem, Dr. Allen. You're very much alike."

"Nicely done," Joe said with a smirk as Dr. McGee grumpily walked away from them. "I'll get the device to S.T.A.R. Labs."

"Good work," Dean said quietly in passing before he headed to the elevator where Sam was already waiting for him.

"Dean, wait," she called after him and he stopped. "In all your investigation…did you guys ever come up with a theory of who it might be?" He looked at her surprised. He knew he wasn't supposed to tell her that either. But he had promised her no more secrets and even if she didn't care about their friendship anymore, he still did.

"Actually, yeah," he replied honestly and she looked up at him.

"Really? Well, who do you think it is?" Hayley asked and he hesitated.

"Uh, we don't know who killed your Mom, but we think Wells might have been involved," Dean said and she scoffed.

"Wells?" She questioned doubtingly and he shushed her. They were in the middle of a police department after all. "Dean, the guy's in a wheel chair. How was he supposed to kill my mother?" She asked, a little quieter now.

"Look, I don't know. Joe thinks there's something wrong with this guy and so do I," Dean replied.

"I don't," Sam replied and Dean shot him an angry look.

"Thank you, Sam," Hayley said.

"Yeah, because you two are such great judges of character. Give me a break," Dean argued and the two glared at him. "You know what – believe it, don't believe it. I don't really care anymore."

"Well…great. That's exactly what I wanted," Hayley added angrily and Dean stomped into the elevator. They glared at each other until the doors closed and then she let out a breath she had kept in for ages. It definitely _was_ better this way.

* * *

"The tachyon device is in place," Cisco informed her as she stood with the rest of the guys in the cortex.

"You think it'll work?" Hayley asked him.

"It'll work," Cisco assured her and she believed him. He was the best engineer she had ever known. If he couldn't do it, no one could.

"So how do we advertise to him that the prototype's here?" Hayley asked as Cisco left to check on his trap again.

"We'll take care of that," Wells replied.

She suddenly could feel them staring at her. Sam, Dean, Wells, Joe – everyone. "What's the problem?" Hayley asked them bluntly. She could already read it all over their faces.

"Look, Hayley…," Joe started to explain and she glared at him. They wouldn't dare doing this to her again. "We talked, and…"

"We think it would be best if you weren't here for this," Dean finished Joe's sentence. It had been all of their idea, he wouldn't just let Joe take the blame for it alone. He knew she would need her Dad after this.

"What are you talking about?" Hayley asked them irritated.

"You're too close to this," Joe argued and the others nodded.

"Or maybe you're not close enough," she snapped at him. "If you hadn't been too scared and warned me that he was here _months_ ago, I could have been prepared for this!"

"I think we can all appreciate Joe's concern for Iris, Hayley," Wells defended him.

"That's why I have to be here!" Hayley countered angrily. Why couldn't they understand? She knew her chances weren't good, but what were they going to do? They were just human. "I'm the best chance at catching this guy!"

"Not right now, not in this state," Dean argued.

"This man stabbed my mother through the heart and sent my father to prison for it," she said through gritted teeth. She could feel her eyes filling with tears. "This is _my_ fight."

"Not today, kid," Joe said, looking sternly at her. She glared at them before she stormed out.

* * *

It was early in the afternoon and the bar was, as anticipated, pretty much empty. Except for one person – Mike.

He was cleaning glasses behind the bar, goofing around with a couple of bottles. He stopped when he noticed his visitor.

"You know, actually we're closed. But you look like you need a drink," Mike said with a chuckle, placing a beer bottle on the bar.

"Actually, I came to talk to you, but I'll take the beer, too," Dean replied, sitting down at the bar.

"Really? Don't tell me Hayley send you to get booze?" Mike joked.

"No, she doesn't know I'm here," Dean said, keeping a serious face.

"Did something happen to her? Is she alright?" He asked worriedly, but Dean shook his head.

"The guy that killed her mother. You know about that?" Dean asked and Mike looked at him surprised.

"Yeah, she told me about it when we met. I think she never stopped staring at that wall," Mike replied and Dean looked at him puzzled.

"What wall?"

"Oh, she used to have a wall full with newspaper articles about her Mom's case. Had it in her college dorm room, in the closet. You know when she wanted to show me her room…didn't think it'd end this way. Was a pretty weird third date," Mike babbled and Dean frowned.

"Huh, well, she has the wall on a board at her lab now," Dean said and Mike nodded. "But that's not what I wanna talk about…uh, he's back."

"What, her mom's murderer?" Mike asked shocked.

"Yeah," Dean replied. "And I need you to talk to her. I know she's your ex-girlfriend and you're with Linda now, but…she needs you."

"Yeah, sure. But why me? Why can't you do it?" Mike asked, looking at him.

"Because you know her," Dean replied.

Mike was quiet for a moment, considering, before he responded. "Okay," he agreed and Dean nodded gratefully.

* * *

She was standing on the rooftop of Jitters, looking over the city. It was a cold night and the wind was rather strong. She was wearing her usual blue ripped jeans, her black boots, a coat and a beanie. She wore her hair in a one side-braid, and he noticed her colored strand of hair was a dark red now, matching her suit. She must have died in on the road. It used to be blue when she left.

He walked over to her and she looked up at him when he stood next to her. She didn't even seem surprised.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, staring ahead, watching the streets in silence. She seemed almost like a guardian angel, watching over the city.

"This is yours and Iris' favorite place. You always come here to talk…or to _think_ ," Mike replied, looking at her.

"Doesn't answer my question," she replied and he chuckled with a small sigh. He knew this wouldn't be easy.

"I just wanted to see if you're all right," Mike replied reluctantly.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Hayley replied nonchalantly, but her voice still carried a bitter undertone.

"Because I talked to Dean…," Mike said carefully and she threw him a look.

"Great. I'm gonna kill him," she mumbled.

"Figures. I already warned him about it," Mike said. She looked up at him as he held back a big grin and she started giggling.

"So, how's Linda?" Hayley asked and he swallowed a little.

"Great, she's awesome. We're awesome," Mike replied and she nodded with a smile.

"That's good…great, I mean…that you found someone," she stammered and was biting down on her tongue hard. She knew it would be hard, but she just wanted him to be happy. They still would be friends.

"Yeah, it is. So, what's up with you? Dean mentioned a certain someone being back?" Mike asked, changing the topic. As much as he had tried to avoid talking about Linda, she had dreaded the conversation about the man who killed her mother.

"Yeah, he is…remember that wall I had in my dorm room closet?" Hayley asked, looking up at him and he chuckled.

"Yeah, I was just thinking about that earlier," Mike replied with a smile.

"I used to stare at it every day…until I became the Flash. I even moved the wall to my lab, because I barely ever found any time once I was running around and saving people…saving everyone but my Dad," Hayley said sadly.

"Hayles, your Dad loves you and you know that. He knows you still have a life to live and you have to take on more than anyone else," Mike replied.

"I made a promise to him, Mike. To my Mom, to me. I promised I would get him out. Now I have all these powers and I still can't help him. Meanwhile, the guy that killed her is running around like it's some kind of sick joke to him. I can't beat him, Mike. He's faster, stronger, smarter. I just can't," Hayley said, her voice cracking, the water in her eyes breaking the light in it.

"Yes, you can," Mike said determinedly.

"No, I can't! I don't know how!" She shouted desperately.

"Hayley, you have friends, a family…that love you. They'd do anything for you. You don't have to deal with it on your own. You're not alone in this," Mike insisted, but she shook her head.

"Yes, I am," Hayley said, holding back tears.

"No, you're not. Hayley, everyone cares about you. I mean, even those two guys you stalked…," Mike said and she threw him a look.

"That's not how…never mind," she muttered with a frown.

"Well, they care about you too. I mean, Dean, I don't think he even likes me and he went through all that trouble just to make sure you were okay," Mike said and she looked at him.

"He likes you. He's just protective," Hayley replied.

"See? That's exactly what I mean. You're not alone. We're all here for you…I'm here for you," Mike said and she looked at him, taking a deep breath. "You just have to call and I'll be there, punching the crap outta the guy," he added with a smile and she giggled. He always knew best how to lift her mood. "You know, Dean was wrong though…there's someone better than me that you could talk to. That really understands what you're going through," Mike said and she looked up at him.

"You really do know me pretty well, huh?" Hayley said with a soft smile.

"So I've been told," Mike replied, returning her smile.

"Can you take me there? It's been a while," she said and he nodded.

"Of course."

* * *

She would've been faster on her own, but she enjoyed the little extra time on the back of Mike's motorcycle. It gave her more time to think. And besides, she didn't want to be alone right now.

Iron Heights Prison was like she remembered – sad, grey and cold. She shivered every single time she walked through the narrow hallways to see her father. She hated the thought of him being here in this place. He deserved so much better.

She sat down in the little room as an officer closed the door behind her. Another one was outside, standing guard. Her father entered in his grey jumpsuit, sitting down across from her and she looked at him. His face lit up when he saw her and they picked up the phone simultaneously. This is how they had spent time together for the last thirteen years.

"Hey Dad, merry Christmas," she said softly and he smiled.

"Merry Christmas, kid," he said. "Haven't seen you in a while."

"Yeah, I've had a lot going on lately. I'm sorry," Hayley said, looking guiltily at him.

"Don't worry about me, kid. I'm all right here," he said with a warm smile. He had always been that way. "So, what've you been up to?"

"I've been traveling a lot lately…for work, you know," she replied. She had never told her father about her powers or about being the Flash. It just never felt right through a glass window.

"Your mother loved to travel. She did a year abroad in Spain when she was in college. Loved it so much, she went to a bunch of other cities," her Dad said and she smiled.

"Yeah, Mom always told me stories about it. I always wanted to go away. I mean, I went to Boston for college. Now I'm just driving aimlessly around the country, but somehow I'm just never able to leave entirely," she said thoughtfully.

"You all right, Hayley?" He asked and she smiled at him. He had always known immediately when something was up with her. Maybe that's why she had avoided coming here less for the last year – a lot had been up with her lately and she didn't want to worry her Dad.

"I screwed up, Dad," she said, tears in her eyes. "After years of searching…I finally found him. I found the man who killed Mom, the man in yellow, the one in the lightning. He's out there, and I had him. He got away. I…I was so close. I promised you that I would get you out of here. Every day you spend in here has been because of him…until today. Now you're in here because of me, and I'm so sorry." The tears streamed down her cheeks as she started sobbing. She just wanted to run through that damn glass window and hug him. She hadn't in so long.

"I…Hayley. Hayley, this is not your fault. Look at me," he said and she wiped her tears away with her sleeves, looking up at him. "I know what you've given up. Every decision you've made in the past thirteen years has been because of me and your Mom…what you studied, why you became a CSI, even with the people you love."

"Love? What has that to do with anything?" She asked, shaking her head.

"It has to do with everything, Hayley. You're my daughter. You don't think I know when you're in love or hurting? But you always ran away from it because you were too consumed with what happened to me and your Mom to let yourself have a life," he said and she looked up at him. Mike had been right – there was no one that knew her better than her father. And she realized she might have been wrong about Mike from the start. "Well, let it go now, Hayley. Hear me now. The man in the yellow suit…he has taken enough from us already. Don't let him take any more," he added and she nodded. She wouldn't disappoint him a second time.

* * *

"Okay. Sending out another pulse," Cisco informed the team as they gathered around him staring at the screen in the cortex of S.T.A.R. Labs. Everyone was here besides Hayley – Joe, Caitlin, Dr. Wells and even Sam and Dean. It felt wrong without her, but she couldn't be here. They all knew it.

"Are you certain this trap will work?" Dean questioned and Cisco shot him an annoyed look. Hayley would never doubt his abilities.

"I've sent up at least three charges into open satellite. If anyone's looking for tachyonic particles, they'll know we got them," Cisco replied and they continued to stare at the screen.

Suddenly, there was a red flicker on the screen and the trap turned on, catching a yellow figure inside.

"Let's see what we caught," Wells said satisfied as they moved to the room with the trap. "Cisco? Lights."

"Sure thing, Dr. Wells," Cisco replied, turning on the lights in the room.

The man in the yellow suit was standing right there in front of them. He was still moving fast, blurring his face and making it impossible to tell who was under that mask.

"Detective West, would you like to read him his rights?" Dr. Wells asked, looking at Joe.

But Joe moved closer to the trap instead. "I'm getting some answers first. Thirteen years ago, you murdered Nora Allen. I want to know why," he asked, but the man didn't reply. "Why?" Joe shouted angrily.

"Dr. Wells, we meet at last," the man finally said, looking at Wells.

"What do you want with the tachyonic particles?" Dr. Wells asked.

"My goals are beyond your understanding," the man replied.

"Oh, I don't know, I'm a pretty smart guy," Wells replied with a smirk. "I knew you were exceptionally fast, so any trap we manufactured would have to be invisible. I knew your cells could repair themselves at extraordinary speeds, so you could withstand the damage this is doing to your body right now. The reason I know all this is because your powers are almost exactly like those of the Flash," he continued his bragging and Dean rolled his eyes. Without Hayley's help, they wouldn't even have that stupid device.

"Oh, I'm not like the Flash at all. Some would say I'm the reverse," the man replied.

"Guys, evacuate! Get out of there now!" Caitlin yelled through the speakers. Something was wrong with the trap. It would collapse anytime soon.

At that moment, the force field fluctuated, and the man in yellow grabbed Dr. Wells, pulling him inside the trap.

"Cisco, turn off the barrier!" Joe ordered him as he watched the red lightning bolt punching holes into Wells.

"If I turn it off, that thing's gonna get out," Cisco argued.

"Cisco, he's gonna kill Wells!" Joe yelled.

Dean grabbed some iron tongs from the tool box nearby, throwing a hammer to Sam and the two shared a look before they hit the trap a couple of times, deactivating it.

The man in yellow let go of Wells, leaving the trap and started to race circles around them. Caitlin and Cisco immediately sent Hayley an emergency text. It had been wrong of them to exclude her. They needed her.

The brothers fired a couple of shots, but it was useless. They knew even Hayley could catch bullets. The lightning blew threw them, knocking them to the ground with ease.

The man grabbed Joe next, holding him in place as he pressed him against the wall. "I warned you not to hunt me," the man in yellow said. He would make good on his promise and kill him then and there.

A bolt of yellow lightning rushed through the room, grabbing the man in yellow and the two lightning streaks disappeared outside, leaving them behind.

"Hayley!" Joe shouted as he and the boys ran after them while Caitlin tended to Dr. Wells' injuries.

They didn't have to run far. They watched as two lightning bolts crashed into each other. They were moving too fast for a normal human eye to see and it was hard to tell who was winning.

It became clear when Hayley was thrown into the air, making a rather hard crash landing on the concrete of the S.T.A.R. Labs parking lot. He treated her like a punching bag, throwing her on top of a car, only to pull her back on the ground again, kicking her. He grabbed her throat, pulling her up to her knees again, throwing back her hoodie. He would kill her.

She suddenly felt cold and the man in yellow was thrown away from her by a cloud of ice. She looked behind her, only to find Dean standing there with the cold gun. She sighed relieved.

"Our race is not yet done," the man in yellow said as he got back up and Dean moved protectively in front of her, pointing the gun at him. "See you soon, Flash."

They watched as the red lightning disappeared and he helped Hayley back up on her feet as the others came running to them.

"Nice thinking with the cold gun, man," Cisco said proudly with a grin. "Now, give it back," he added with a stern look and Dean frowned.

"Yeah, how did you know it would work?" Hayley asked, looking up at him and he grinned.

"Well, Wells said the guy works like you and Cisco once told me the cold gun is really the only thing that could for sure kill you," Dean replied.

"Really? Did he?" Hayley asked, glancing at Cisco and he looked guiltily up at her.

"Yeah, who's the smart guy now?" Dean said, beaming proudly and Sam kicked him slightly, giving him a look.

"I believe that's you, Mr. Winchester," Dr. Wells said as he joined them and Dean shot him a look. He looked like crap and was still bleeding a little. "Thank you for saving all of our lives tonight. Now if you excuse me, I think I need some rest."

"Can I help you with anything, Dr. Wells?" Caitlin asked, but he shook his head.

"No, I'll be fine, Caitlin. Don't worry. See you tomorrow at work," he replied with a small smile, leaving.

* * *

She met up with the boys at the bar. She had texted them to meet her there. She owed them a big fat apology, especially Dean, and she knew it.

She had prepared a rather long speech, rehearsing it in her head over and over. But of all that changed when she saw them. Instead she just pulled them into a hug. They protested a little at first before they eventually gave in.

"What's this for?" Dean asked. He was starting to have a hard time breathing.

"Saving my life," Hayley mumbled and the brothers sighed.

"You're welcome," Dean said and she tightened her grip around them.

"Hayles, I think you're choking me," Sam said, gasping.

"Oh, sorry," she said, jumping back.

"So, does this mean we're good?" Dean asked, raising a brow and she smiled at them.

"Yeah, we're good. I'm so sorry, you guys," Hayley said guiltily.

"Yeah, we're sorry too, Hayley," Sam said with a soft smile and Dean nodded in agreement.

"Does this mean you're coming with us again?" Dean asked, looking at her and she hesitated.

"Actually, no," she said carefully. Sam glanced at Dean before he decided to excuse himself.

"You know what? I'm gonna go get us some drinks," Sam said, sneaking away to the bar. He had already tried to tell Dean that she would probably stay this time. He understood she needed to go her own way for a while. He knew she would come back sooner or later. But his brother always had a harder time letting people go. Life was funny that way – in the beginning Dean wanted to get rid of her, now he would actually miss her.

"So, you're staying?" Dean asked and she nodded.

"Yeah…went to see my Dad today. I need to get him out of there, Dean. He can't stay in there any longer. It's just something I have to do. For a while, at least," Hayley said with a soft smile and he was quiet for a moment.

"You think you're ready for that?" Dean asked, looking at her.

"Yeah, I think I am," she replied. It wasn't her usual cocky response. She had really thought about the answer this time.

"Yeah, I think so too," Dean said, smiling.

"Besides, I'm always just seconds away. You know that," she said, looking up at him and he nodded.

"Yeah, I know. I get it. Don't worry," Dean replied, but she could tell he was disappointed.

"Just see it as kicking me out of the nest. See if I can fly on my own," Hayley said with a smirk and he threw her a look.

"You're unbelievable, you know that?" He teased her and she chuckled.

"In a good way or a bad way?" She asked, looking at him.

"The best way," Dean replied honestly, a smile on his face and they laughed.

"Uh, you won't believe what just happened," Sam said as he came back over to them with a perplexed expression on his face and empty hands.

"Where's our beers?" Dean asked, looking confused at his brother before he noticed an angry brunette storming over to them, coming to a halt next to Sam.

His little brother jumped a little to the side when he noticed Linda next to him. She was glaring at Hayley.

"Hey, Linda. How are you? How's it going with Mike?" Hayley asked with an awkward smile when Sam started waving his hands behind Linda and frantically shaking his head at her.

"It _isn't_ , thank you for asking," Linda replied and Hayley could sense a sarcastic undertone.

"Really?" Dean said, simultaneously throwing her a charming smile and Hayley threw him a look. Of course, he would hit on her.

"Oh, no, I'm sorry. What happened? Did he tell that weird duck joke again?" Hayley asked and Linda shook her head confused.

"No, actually…he talked about you all the time," Linda said, giving her a look.

"Oh, I'm sure that's not…," Hayley tried to defend Mike, but couldn't think of anything. He had really screwed it up this time.

"Yeah, we were fine before you came back into town. I told him if he wasn't over his ex-girlfriend yet, he should have just said so," Linda snapped and stormed off.

"What the hell was that?" Hayley asked, looking at the brothers.

"Told you," Sam said and she threw him a look. He still looked a little frightened.

"Stop gloating," Dean told her.

"I'm not gloating," she said, chuckling awkwardly.

"Yeah? Then why are you grinning? It's annoying," Dean huffed. It actually wasn't annoying at all. He was glad she was feeling more like herself again as he watched her grin from cheek to cheek.

"Okay, I'm gonna get us some drinks before Samantha here gets scared off by a girl again," Hayley teased Sam with a smirk and Dean laughed, shaking his head at her.

"I wasn't scared. I was just excited to tell you," Sam defended himself and they chuckled.

"You sure you wanna go over there?" Dean asked, glancing at Mike at the bar and she followed his look.

"Yeah, I'm sure," she said with a confident smile, walking on over to the bar.

"So…could you convince her to come with us?" Sam asked, looking at Dean.

"See for yourself," Dean said with a smirk, nodding over to the bar again and Sam watched as Hayley was kissing Mike.

"Wow, that was fast. Even for her," Sam commented, turning back to Dean.

"Are you kidding me? This took years," Dean said with a frown.

"Am I seeing right?" Iris asked, joining them as pointed over to Hayley and Mike with a surprised expression.

"Yup," the brothers replied and she looked at them.

"That's my girl," Iris said with a proud smile. "Poor Linda, though," she added and the boys nodded.

Hayley and Mike soon joined them at their table with a bunch of drinks. She had texted Caitlin and Cisco as well and Iris had invited Eddie and they could finally celebrate Christmas together.

"So, you two are officially back together, huh?" Sam asked, smiling at Hayley and she grinned at him before she shared a look with Mike. He had his arm wrapped around her.

"Uh, we're working it out," she replied and Mike nodded with a grin.

"Jesus, I'm gonna shoot you two," Dean muttered and they laughed.

"Well, you'd have to be faster than Joe," Hayley said with a grin and Mike frowned.

"Right, Joe…you know what? Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all," Mike joked and Hayley hit him playfully.

"So Linda? She's free now, right?" Dean asked, grinning, and Sam kicked him.

"As a bird," Mike replied with a chuckle and the girls threw him a look.

"You're not gonna hit on that poor woman," Iris said, frowning.

"Yeah, he is," Sam said annoyed.

"Yup. Any tips?" Dean asked, looking at Mike.

"Yeah, don't talk about Hayley. She really doesn't like that," Mike said and Hayley threw him a look. She wasn't thrilled some random girl in the city now hated her because her ex-boyfriend couldn't shut up about her.

"Who?" Dean asked with a grin and Mike laughed before Hayley hit him again.

"Thank you," she called after Dean as she watched him make his way over to Linda and she shook her head with a chuckle. Everything was good for once.

* * *

 _ **Flashback, 13 years ago**_

"Ouch," she whined as her Mom tucked her into bed, checking on her bruises again after her run-in with her bullies today.

"Hmm, your bruise is already healing," her mother said with a warm smile.

"It still hurts, though," Hayley said, pouting. It wasn't that bad, but she just wanted to stay up a little while longer.

"Not for much longer, honey," her Mom said, giving her a kiss on the forehead. "Here, come on. I'll keep the light on for you." Her mother finished tucking her into bed, walking over to the door.

"Were you ever afraid of the dark?" Hayley asked and she turned around to her daughter again.

"If I turn this light off now, would you be scared?" Her mother asked, sitting down on her bed again.

"No," she replied, thinking about it.

"That's because I'm here with you," her mother replied. "See, you're not afraid of the dark, Hayley. You're afraid of being alone in the dark," she continued and Hayley thought about it. Maybe her Mom was right. "And that goes away when you realize something. You're never really alone."

"It's time for bed," her Dad announced, interrupting their little talk. He stood in the door frame, smiling at them.

"I'm thirsty," Hayley complained and her parents chuckled, her Dad walking over to her.

"Oh, no, you're stalling. But I got you covered," her father said, laughing as he placed a glass of water on her bedside table. "Good night, Hayley," he said, kissing her forehead.

"Sweet dreams, my beautiful girl," her mother said, giving her another kiss on the cheek before she joined her father by the door. Hayley smiled at them – they always looked so happy. And she realized she wasn't scared anymore.

"You can turn off the light," she told her parents and her mother nodded, flipping the switch with a proud smile.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, guys! I had been excited for this for months and I hope you like it as much as I do :)

Next: Since season 2 of SPN has a few filler episodes (The Usual Suspects, for example), I thought I might mix them with some Flash stuff and show a little more of Hayley training Mike (she's gonna know soon what Dean felt like when he trained her), the Captain Cold/Rogues gallery is coming soon and Caitlin still needs to find Ronnie (and Stein - we need him :D). But Hayley's not gonna leave our boys for good, so don't worry ;)

I'm not gonna spoil you though. So be aware when you ask me questions about including/doing certain things in future chapters. I don't wanna give away the whole story and still keep a few twists and turns. It helps a lot more when you tell me what you liked (or didn't) about chapters I've already written. Gives me a better feeling of what you're looking for ;)

Thank you guys so much for reading and loving this story! Let me know what you think about this one :)

Read you soon!


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